Hi guys, so I felt the urge to write and I wasn't really studying productively anyway so here we go. To everyone that I told that there'd be no updates till after the 20th of June... SURPRISE XD haha

I just want to say that I've had tons of people asking when I'll update and whether I'll keep writing because of this Kris business and I just want to say I'M NOT ABANDONING THIS FIC YAYY. I believe Kris has his reasons for doing this and it's his life so we should respect his decisions. I do feel that it was a little unfair to the members to do this right before the concert but I believe he had a reason for that too. Anyway, I don't think he'd want us to just pretend he never existed so I'm not abandoning this fic. Also I've spent nearly a year on this so I plan on finishing it dammit XD

Anyway, enjoy and I'd love it if you'd comment <3 comments are my life blood <3

2,251 words (short I know sorry :/ )

Tao POV

I stare through bleary eyes as we board the plane to China, after fighting our way through the crowds of tourists and reporters at the airport. It seems someone somehow managed to find out when we were planning on flying to China and when we’d arrived at the airport there were reporters everywhere. Thankfully airport security had been waiting, obviously having learned from the last time we were in the airport.

We spent yesterday and most of the early hours of this morning at Lay’s house, only having arrived back at home at about 3am. Lay had invited everyone over for a get together with the aim of telling them all of his father’s involvement in our kidnapping. He’d wanted them to hear it from him not others or the news. As expected, our friends had been shocked but no one blamed him at all. I think he’s been put more at ease now, knowing that he has all of our support.

Kris is next to me, looking even more exhausted than me, and I curse our decision to take a 6am flight. Running on 2 hours sleep is never fun and I definitely plan to sleep on the plane. We could never, however, have predicted that we’d be invited to Lay’s house on such short notice so it’s not really our fault.

 We’ve decided to spend a couple of days at my parent’s house before heading down to Beijing where we’ll have to testify in court. Just the thought of it fills me with anxiety and I think being with my parents for a short while will help.

We’re in first class and it’s nice and quiet so, as expected, we both fall asleep on the short flight, eyes slipping shut shortly after the plane takes off. When we open them again, we’re landing in China.

I’m thankfully feeling more alert as we step onto Chinese soil, the cool breeze helping to wake me up a little, and we head across the tarmac into the airport to collect our luggage.

My mother’s waiting for us in her car outside the building and she waves at us as we fight our way through even more reporters to get to her, telling them repeatedly that we’ll tell them everything they need to know at the press conference.

After stowing our luggage in the boot I climb into the front seat, next to my mum so I can talk to her. I can tell that Kris is fine in the back seat as his head is already tilted back, resting against the head rest with his eyes slipping shut as we pull away, leaving the reporters and camera men behind.

“How have you been?” my mother asks quietly, smiling at the sight of Kris nodding off in her rear view mirror.

“Not too bad really,” I reply. “I think we’re doing well considering everything.”

My mum nods as she switches lane, glancing over at me with a gentle smile on her face.

“Well you’re definitely looking physically healthier than you were when I last saw you. You’ve always been a strong boy; I have faith that you’ll be ok.”

I laugh softly, smiling back at her and settling down more in my seat, content to gaze out of the window for a moment as familiar scenery goes by.

I’m taken by surprise when I’m awoken by a gentle hand on my shoulder and my mother’s voice telling me that we’ve arrived. She chuckles at my confused expression before climbing out and calling for someone to take in our bags. She tosses me the car keys and leaves me to sort out Kris who’s still asleep in the back.

When we’re left alone, I twist in my seat, taking a moment to appreciate how adorable and innocent Kris looks when he’s asleep. Forcing myself to move, I open my door and climb out, shutting it firmly and moving to open his door.

I brush his fringe off his face, watching as his eyes flutter open from the touch. A warm feeling spreads inside me as I watch how a smile automatically forms on his face the moment he sees me.

“Come on you,” I say softly, “we’re here. Let’s get you inside.”

He nods a little, fumbling with the seatbelt before easing himself out of the car. I take his hand and link our fingers together as I shut the door and lock the car, before turning and tugging him through the front door of the house.

My mother decides to send us up to bed, telling us to rest and that she’ll wake us for food in a few hours.

Kris and I approve wholeheartedly of this plan and a few minutes later we’re tumbling into bed, excess clothes tossed onto the floor and eyes shutting as soon as our heads hit the pillows. Kris reaches for me and I pull him to me, wrapping an arm around him as he snuggles into my chest and promptly falls asleep, me following quickly afterwards.

It’s late in the afternoon when I wake up. I shift slightly, sighing softly as I chase after sleep again, but it eludes me and eventually I give in and open my eyes. Kris is still wrapped up in my arms and I glance down at him. I’m greeted with the sight of him meeting my gaze, expression content and comfortable and eyes fixed on my face, evidently having been awake for a while now.

“Why hello there sleeping beauty,” he murmurs and I flick his arm, rolling my eyes at his cheesiness whilst at the same time pulling him closer and tightening my arms around him.

Our legs are tangled together and I chuckle breathily at the feeling of him wiggling his toes against my legs. I feel him smile against my bare chest and close my eyes happily at the feeling of him pressing his lips against my skin.

Minutes pass as we lie there, tangled together and content to just hold each other for a while.

Eventually, after I glance over at the clock on my wall, I decide that it’s time to get up. My mother will probably be organising food for some time soon and my father is likely to be home from work in less than an hour. We were lucky enough to plan our arrival for a day when my mother had a day off.

I shift, attempting to dislodge Kris who latched onto me like a limpet the moment I suggested moving, laughing as he whines discontentedly in a way I’d have never expected from him.

“Release me you fiend,” I laugh when he locks his arms tighter around me and shakes his head stubbornly against my chest.

All attempts to escape are futile until I decide to resort to more adventurous methods. I wriggle a bit until my face is level with his, meeting his gaze for a few seconds before moving in and pressing my lips against his. He sighs happily against me and moves his lips gently against mine. I smile smugly into the kiss as I literally feel him melting against me, hands loosening their vice like hold on me and one hand moving up to tangle his fingers in my hair whilst the other snakes around my waist.

I shift until I’m on top of him, one leg on either side of him, keeping him there as I move my head, pressing soft kisses and light bites down his neck. My hands sneak up and I grip his wrists, pushing them into the pillow on either side of his head and pinning him down. I pull back, staring down at his flushed skin and glistening lips.

I smirk as he pouts up at me, saying “Kris, we really need to get up.”

I shift back and pull him up so that he’s sitting upright and I’m straddling his lap. I release his wrists and thread my fingers through his mussed up hair, flattening out the unruly strands and smiling as he closes his eyes at the soothing sensation.

He wraps his arms around my waist and leans forward to rest his chin on my shoulder, nuzzling into my neck before huffing softly and muttering a resigned “ok” against my skin.

I run my hands softly down his back before shifting away and shuffling out from under the duvet that’s still somehow covering our legs.

I stand up and stretch, contemplating whether to help him up or not, and eventually deciding not to as I don’t trust him not to pull me back down again. He’s really clingy when he’s tired.

I head over to the bathroom, freshening up before returning to my room and crouching down by our suitcases, ping mine and rifling through it for some new clothes because I don’t fancy wearing the ones that we left crumpled up on the floor.

When I’m dressed, I turn back to Kris, rolling my eyes and wondering how to get him out of bed. He’s rarely this bad in the morning; or afternoon in this case. My predicament is solved for me when we hear the dinner gong sound from downstairs.

I smirk in an attempt not to laugh when Kris groans in part reluctance and part desire as the thought of food starts to get to him.

We haven’t eaten since we left Korea, so we’re both starving when we finally head downstairs ten minutes later.

Both of my parents are already there and seated when we arrive and my father gives us a warm greeting. As we eat, my parents fill the silence with small talk, carefully avoiding the topic of the court case after a quick enquiry about it at the start of the meal, and instead focusing on general things, such as how our friends are back in Korea.

I smile to myself as I watch Kris talking with my father. It feels really good to see them getting along so well. I glance over at my mother and see her looking back at me with a faint knowing smirk on her face. I look down at my food, feeling embarrassed at being caught acting all sentimental, and concentrate on eating.

I work out in my old gym the next morning and then we spend the day in private, running through our testimonies again and again, getting them perfected for our hearing three days later. Kris’s dad has now informed us of the exact time and date that he wants us in court, and we’re planning on leaving tomorrow afternoon with the intention of arriving in Beijing that evening. We’ll stay at Kris’s father’s house and have a day spare to go over the general proceedings again with our legal team before we go to court.

As it is, we’re pretty much ready and now we just have to wait. We pass the last evening in the garden, alternating between walking along the paths in the beds of flowers, the bushes and the trees that my parents have spent so much time on, and sitting together in the quiet, reading or talking.

We leave the next afternoon and when we eventually enter Beijing I feel nerves start to build up in me. It’s strange really that the knowledge that Yuan is in this city can do this to me, and I’m glad I’ve got Kris with me. He directs me as I drive to his father’s house which is in a quiet section of the city.

As if sensing my unease, he reaches over, placing a hand on my thigh and instantly calming me down. To tell the truth, I’m afraid of seeing Yuan, who we’re going to have to face in court at some point. It’s a frightening thought that we’ll see the man who caused everything that’s happened to us. I’m also a little worried about Kris’s father too; he was so close with Yuan once, it’ll be hard to see the twisted man he’s become in person and I’m sure he feels that he’s to blame to some degree.

We’re welcomed by the staff of the household as Kris’s father is still out working on the court case and is unlikely to be back until late. We eat well as we’re both extremely hungry, and then decide to go to bed early. We’ll be getting up early tomorrow to meet with the team again for one last run through of everything that we’ll be required to do in court.

The next day goes by quickly and by the time we’re in bed again I feel as though my head will explode from all the new information and the stress that’s building up for tomorrow.

Kris can easily sense my distress and he pulls me to him, wrapping an arm around my waist and slinging a leg over mine possessively. He rubs comforting circles on my back and hums old Chinese songs in an attempt to lull me to sleep.

His efforts calm me and I tilt my head up, pressing a gentle kiss to his mouth and taking him by surprise. He smiles down at me before tucking my head under his chin and nuzzling into my hair.

As I sense sleep creeping up on me, I mumble “I love you.”

I feel his smile against my hair and a feeling of peace and security washes over me when he tightens his grip on me and whispers back “I love you too.”

Ok so tons of pointless fluff there I know :/ I just wanted to update. Tbh nothing much really happens here but I've got them where I need them now so stuff can all go down next chapter :D

It's really unlikely that I'll manage to write another chapter until the end of June because I have exams so please be patient. I'm on study leave now so you never know, maybe I'll surprise you if I manage to write in my study breaks or something.... <3

Anyway, please comment, it's great to hear what you think and your theories etc haha XD or just to chat, whatever.

Some of my other stuff:

My fic rec: There are tons of exo fics and some other group fics on here too if people need to find more fics XD Just a warning, there is some really on there but I've put the ratings, summaries and warnings on each chapter and you can just not go on the m-rated ones if you don't like that kinda stuff. There're some really nice non-m-rated fics on there too :3.... XD

Fight for me: This is my hunhan oneshot which is about hunhan being cage fighters (or ex-fighters in Luhan's case). You'll see XD I'm planning on writing a sequel and/or prequel to this due to most commenters requesting one XD

Tough Love: This is the Kaisoo oneshot from this fic. I thought some people wouldn't want to read my long taoris fic and might be into kaisoo more so I put it on it's own... I plan on adding a couple of kinda drabbles to this too from this au because we don't really see much about them...

Anyway yh... self promo over XD >_< Please comment XD

I LOVE YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE 412 SUBS LIKE WHUUUUT???? <3