“So cold when you do it to me like that, frost bite the karma’s gonna bite back!” Luhan rapped Merrily to himself.

“Good! You’re really getting it!” Eli beamed, “you kinda though...” he chuckled.

Luhan glared slightly, “Rapping isn’t my forté okay?!” he huffed.

Eli chuckled again before throwing a bag of skittles at Luhan, “You know, I could have given them to you an hour ago. I’m kind of glad I didn’t now. Seeing you attempt to rap was... amusing to say the least” he grinned as Kiseop walked into the room.

“Oh hey?” he smiled, “You must be Luhan. I’ve seen you around with the cute, tall kid.. Oh Sehun, is it? Your boyfriend, right?”

Luhan laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously, “About that... It was all kind of fake, to keep this guy from hitting on me all the time. But eh, we’re kind of dating for real now, but we don’t want our friends to know about it, so can you keep it a secret?”

Kiseop and Eli nodded in unison, “Did Cas run away in purgatory to protect Dean?” Eli asked.

“Huh?”

“Yes. He did. We’ll keep your secret Luhan, don’t worry” Kiseop smiled, taking a seat beside Eli on the latter’s bed, “but can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot” Luhan smiled back.

“Why keep it a secret from your friends?” he asked, furrowing his brow in confusion, “It’s not like they’d have a problem with it, right?”

Luhan chuckled, “Not even slightly, hell, they really want us together. It’s just funny to mess with them” Luhan clarified.

Kiseop rolled his eyes, “You’re as bad as him” he said, nudging Eli with his elbow.

Luhan grinned before getting to his feet “Well, great minds think alike” he beamed, “But anyway, I better go, Sehun’s waiting for me so we can go meet a couple friends for dinner and movie” he said, making his way to the door.

“Like a double date?” Eli asked with a wink.

“Nope!” Luhan shouted before running out of the door and down the hall to his own room.

He giggled to himself as he walked into the room where Sehun was getting dressed into suitable attire – Luhan refused to let him put anything other than his clean boxers on when they got up that morning – that consisted of blue skinny jeans, a white tee, with the short sleeves rolled up to make it look like a vest top, and a denim jacket along with his converse. His hair was styled up – the way Luhan secretly loved it.

“You about ready to go?” Luhan asked, walking over to Sehun and straightening the collar of his jacket before letting his hands run slowly down the younger’s front.

“Mm, are they?” Sehun smiled, bringing his hands to rest Luhan’s hips.

Luhan bit his lip to fight of a smile as he looked up at Sehun through his eyelashes, “Well, Kris said that they’d be here at about quarter to four, so ‘round about...” there was a knock at the door, as Luhan pulled away from Sehun and stood a safe distance away, “Now” he finished, as Kris and Tao walked in, hand in hand.

“Hey!” Tao chirped happily as he swung his and Kris’s hand between them cutely.

“Hey yourself TaoTao” Sehun smiled, waving at the elder, not noticing the look of jealously that shot over Luhan’s face for a moment before he composed himself, “Kris” Sehun nodded.

“Hi” Kris said solemnly, “You guys ready to go?”

“Mmhmm, let me just grab my wallet and we’re all set” Luhan smiled, grabbing the aforementioned item from his bedside table, “Alright, let’s go, my es”

The four of them set off then, Tao and Sehun chatting merrily as they walked slightly ahead of Kris and Luhan. The latter was quietly watching Kris, who eventually sighed and looked at Luhan.

“I’m fine, Lu-ge. Stop looking at me like that” he said with a strained smile, “Like you said, after some time with Suho, I felt a lot better. He told me some things that Yeol had said and I told him my side of the story. He kind of just made me see that whilst Chanyeol is an idiot, I was still out of line.

 “I’ll find him later and apologise. Then we can put this whole thing behind us” Kris huffed out a breath of air, “All done and dusted. Well... If he accepts my apology”

“I’m sure he will” Luhan smiled, patting Kris on the back, “You know Yeol. He can’t stay mad at anyone for too long. It’s not in his nature. He’s a soft little puppy at heart”

“Yeah. He is. And he found himself a perfect little pup love to keep for life” Kris smiled slightly.

Luhan rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he pushed Kris’s arm and ran forward to catch up with the younger two, latching himself onto Sehun’s arm happily as they walked.

Kris chuckled to himself as he caught up with them and grabbed a hold of Tao’s hand, lacing their fingers together as they all walked to the cinema.

When they finally arrived they bought four tickets to see Catching Fire – Kris and Sehun paid, at which point Tao made a joke of it being like a double date. Sehun and Luhan shared a look before laughing and denying it – bought their snacks and drinks, then made their way into screen 10.

They found four seats at the back at took their places. Tao sitting next to the wall, followed by Kris, then Sehun and then Luhan, who insisted on having the isle seat incase he needed to pee during the movie.

Sehun checked to make sure that neither Kris, nor Tao were looking when the lights went down and the trailers started before wrapping an arm around Luhan, smiling slightly when the elder cuddled closer into him.

Throughout the movie, Luhan fed Sehun popcorn, and occationally brought their shared coke to his lips, so that the younger could take a sip. They also snuck in a few kisses when they were sure that the other two weren’t looking and the movie was loud enough to cover up any noises that may have escaped their lips – mainly Luhan, much to Sehun’s amusement.

“Oh my god... Tell me this isn’t happening...” Luhan whispered.

Sehun rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless, “Lu” he whispered back into the elder’s ear, “You’ve read the book. You knew this would happen”

“So.. It’s worse seeing it!” Luhan sniffled as tears spilled over, “Peeta... Look at Katniss right now, look at her! Tell me she’s not in love with that boy!” he whispered frantically before he was shushed by a girl in front of them.

“Shush yourself! Wench!” Luhan hissed tearfully! “Have you no heart!”

“Lu, he’s alive...” Sehun whispered, suppressing a chuckle as he placed a soft kiss to Luhan’s temple.

Luhan sniffled again, but didn’t reply as he leant back into Sehun’s hold once again.

Throughout the rest of the movie, Tao and Luhan’s sniffles could be heard from time to time, and at one point – the end part with Gale – so could Kris’s.

Once it ended, the four of them made their way out of the cinema, dumping their rubbish in the bin on the way out before walking to the pub-slash-restaurant that was situated next door.

They sat in a booth near the back, enjoying the cozy atmosphere of the place. From the dim, but not too dim, lighting, to the warm wooden décor.

“Okay, so what do you want? Me and Sehun will go and order” Luhan chirped up, “But if you think we’re paying, think again! We’ll split it~”

Kris rolled his eyes, but told the elder what he and wanted along with Tao before Sehun and Luhan made their way up to the bar to order.

“Do you think they noticed anything?” Luhan asked as they walked over to the bar.

Sehun shook his head lightly, “Nah, they were too into the film. Besides, we weren’t doing anything to get us overly noticed. We always cuddle and stuff, and they didn’t notice you trying to abuse my face with your mouth”

“Excuse you? You started it!” Luhan defended, slapping a hand down on the bar before smiling up at the guy on the till, “hi” Luhan grinned, turning to the guy.

He placed their order and got their drinks in.

“I did no such thing!” said Sehun with a fake gasp before chuckling.

“Idiot” Luhan laughed, slapping Sehun lightly on the chest with the back of his hand before the two rejoined Tao and Kris at the table.

“So!” Tao grinned, his catlike grin, “What did you think of the movie?!”

Kris just shrugged, causing Tao and Luhan to roll their eyes.

“I liked it. I thought it was seriously amazing, and they followed the book well. But, they did miss out so much and changed a few things...” Sehun grumbled.

“You have to expect that though” Luhan said, patting Sehun’s arm sypathetically.

Sehun nodded, “Yeah, but because of them not added Madge in the first one, it killed the flow for the Mockingjay pin! AND they didn’t do the part with Darius. Or with where Peeta and Katniss watched Haymitch’s game. Or where Peeta showed Katniss his art!”

“Whoa there, Nelly~ calm your ” Luhan laughed, “We get it, you like the book”

“It’s my favourite of the three” Sehun huffed sulkily.

Kris coughed back a laugh, “Yeah, we never would have guessed” he smirked, earning a giggle from Tao.

“Be nice” Tao scolded him lightly.

Kris smirked again, “Make me” he said lowly, his voice thick and seductive as he moved his face closer to Tao and pressed their lips together.

As Tao melted into the kiss, Kris pulled back thanks to the gagging noises that Luhan and Sehun felt the need to make in the background.

“Gee, way to ruin the moment, guys” Kris glared.

Luhan just scrunched up his face in response, “What moment? You’re gross and I don’t want to be seeing it!”

“Here here!” Sehun raised his glass in agreement.

***

Xiumin hummed softly to himself as he folded his clothes into his draws. He didn’t really have much to do. He and Chen had been for lunch with the Unicorn and his Angel, but after that it was all work and no play. But in this case, Jack wasn’t a dull boy.

“I don’t wanna lose you now! You’re looking right at the other half of me. This vacancy that’s sat in my heart, is a space, and now you’re home. Show me how to fight for now and I’ll tell you baby, it was easy, coming back here to you, once I figured it out, you were right here all along~” he sang in a hushed voice to himself with the radio playing the song softly in the back ground.

A gentle clapping brought him out of his reverie, and he turned to see Lay stood at the door, leaning on the frame, clapping his hands slowly as a drawn out whistle left his lips.

“Jesus, Lay! Don’t do that! You scared the crap out of me!” Xiumin breathed, bringing a hand to his heart and closing his draws with the other.

“Ha, sorry, Baozi. My bad. I just came to see if you wanted to hang out? Chen and Suho ran off somewhere to do something or other. Seems like my best friend stole my boyfriend. Huh... Never thought I’d say that, damn that ChenChen” Lay laughed, “It’s a good job I trust those two”

Xiumin rolled his eyes but gestured for Lay to come in and shut the door behind him, “Yeah, great. How’s Baekhyunnie doing now?”

“He’s fine” Lay smiled, setting himself down on Xiumin’s bed and pulling out a packet of Reece’s peanut butter cups – from where, Xiumin didn’t even know – “Chanyeol spent the day pampering him or something from what I hear”

“That’s sweet. Do you think Kris’ll apologise?” Xiumin asked, bunkering down next to Lay in the bed and crossing his legs like a preschooler.

“Maybe. You know how Kris is... But I don’t think he’ll be able to stay crabby at Yeol for too long. He came to Suho and me last night and he was a wreck. I give it a week before they’re back to their normal, dysfunctional selves” Lay shrugged, biting into his second peanut butter cup.

Xiumin couldn’t help but let out a laugh just as the door swung open and in came Kai, lugging a tired looking Kyungsoo behind him.

“FINALLY! PEOPLE!” He cried out, “D’you know how long we’ve been looking for you lot? Well, maybe not you two specifically. But you’ll do”

“Sorry about him” Kyungsoo smiled apologetically as he shrugged out of Kai’s hold and sat down on Chen’s bed.

Kai pouted slightly as he followed after Kyungsoo and sat down beside the elder, throwing an arm around Kyungsoo. The latter didn’t even bother to try throwing it off, knowing it would be back there soon enough.

“Ignoring the fact that you’re a . What do you want Kai?” Xiumin asked, raising an eyebrow at the younger.

“Hyung! Don’t be like that!” Kai pouted again, “You know I love you”

Kyungsoo let out an unintentional whimper at Kai’s words, causing Kai to look at him with confusion.

“You okay, ‘Soo?” Lay asked gently.

Kyungsoo looked up with a forced smile, “I’m fine. But I have to go” he said before getting up and walking quickly out of the room.

Kai looked at the older two, who simply shrugged at him before he took off after Kyungsoo.

He finally managed to reach the older, yet shorter boy on the stairs by the first floor. He grabbed Kyungsoo by the arm as he span the elder around to face him, pushing him back against the wall of the landing so that he had no way of escaping.

“What do you want, Kai? I need to go!” Kyungsoo said, struggling against Kai’s hold.

Kai frowned and held Kyungsoo tighter against the wall, “No. You don’t.” He said, “I know when you’re lying, so tell me what’s up. And I want the truth”

“You can’t just demand things from me, Kai! That’s not how it works! You drag me around all the time, expect me to be there at your every beck and call, and for what? Just so that I don’t have time to see anyone outside of the twelve of us? Because God forbid that I might meet someone else. Someone I actually like and might like me?!” Kyungsoo shouted, his chest heaving with frustrated anger.

“What are you talking about?! It’s not like I have a leash on you!” Kai shot back in annoyance and confusion.

“You might as well have! And you know full well what I’m talking about. I told Junmyeon I loved him the other day and you flipped a damn switch! Yet you can go and say it to the whole bloody campus and I have to be fine with it?! You saw me talking to Hyunsik the other day and threatened him! Am I not allowed people to be interested in me, huh? Do you see me going all crazy every time a guy or girl flirts with you?! Well? Do you?! It’s not fair Kai, and you either need to stop being so damn possessive, or just leave me alone!” Kyungsoo huffed, tears forming in his eyes.

Kai opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again before taking a deep, stuttered breath.

“You can’t keep doing this to me” Kyungsoo sighed, his voice now a lot quieter with defeat, “You tell me all the time that you like me, that you want to be with me, but you don’t act like it. You just act like you want me to put out for you, then as soon as I do you’ll be onto the next one like always. I won’t do that, Jongin. I can’t do that... That isn’t me... I’m not some... Some...”

“, like me.” Kai finished off for him, “Go ahead and say it, you’re not some like me. You might as well tell me what you really think of me. Everyone else does, ‘Soo. What difference is one more person? Even if it is the one person you care the most about in this ing world. So say it! Tell me what you really think of me!” he yelled, pushing Kyungsoo back against the wall before letting go and turning away, running a hand over his tired face.

Kyungsoo’s silent tears fell silently as he thought of what to say next, “I... I wasn’t going to say that” he said, his voice cracking, “I don’t think you’re a . I never have. I just think that you don’t think sometimes and you just do things without a second thought.

 “Kai, if you wanna know what I really think of you, you should have realised by this. By everything I just said. I... For god’s sake” he huffed in frustration as he wiped away his tears, “I love you, Kai. But I can’t keep playing this game. I can’t keep acting like I’m fine every time you pull me away from my other friends, or when you flirt with other people, even if it is a joke. It still hurts, you know? I just... Forget I said anything, this was stupid” he sighed, starting to walk away when he felt a hand on his wrist, stopping him.

“You love me?” Kai whispered.

Kyungsoo didn’t turn around, he stayed facing the stairs, “Does it matter?”

“Does it matter? You’re joking, right?” Kai scoffed, “Of course it matters, ‘Soo. You think I want to upset you? You think I like that you’re crying right now, that you won’t even look me in the eye?! Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that? Funny how when you actually do, I wish you hadn’t.”

Kyungsoo sighed as he turned back to look at Kai, lifting his free hand to try and brush away his tears again. He looked over Kai’s face carefully, as if waiting for the younger boy to disappear.

“You don’t want me to?” Kyungsoo asked in a broken voice.

Kai laughed bitterly, “Again, you’re joking, right? I want you to want me, I want you to like me, to love me back so damn much that I push people away from you, Kyung” he pushed Kyungsoo against the wall again, though softer this time, “In case you hadn’t realised by now, but I love you more than anything. So yeah, I want you to love me, I want you to say it and mean it. But not like this. Not because you’re mad at me, not because you want to hate me. Not when you’re crying your ing heart out and it’s my fault. I want you to say it when you want me to feel good about it, and not because you want to spite me”

“I can’t do this right now, Jongin” Kyungsoo sighed.

“Can’t, or won’t?”

“Both”

Kai sighed, “Don’t freak out...” he whispered before pressing a gentle kiss to Kyungsoo’s lips and pulling back before Kyungsoo had the chance to even think about kissing back. “You can’t do this right now, huh? So don’t. I’ll give you time, space, whatever. I’ll leave you alone. I won’t talk to you until you figure out what you want. Hell, I won’t even look at you. So you come to me and you tell me. If you want a friend, I’ll be your friend. If you want more, you know where I stand. If you want less, if you want me gone... I’ll go. I won’t ever come near you again. But I need you to choose. Because I can’t act like we’re okay, when we obviously aren’t”

And with that, Kai moved back and walked away, leaving Kyungsoo to slide down the wall until he was sat on the floor, his knees to his chest as he sobbed.

“LIVIN’ IT UP AT THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA! SUCH A LOVELY PLACE! SUCH A LOVELY FACE! PLENTY OF ROOM AT THE HO-LY ! Kyungsoo!”

Kyungsoo looked up to see Chanyeol walking over to him, a look of worry etched on his face.

The giant picked Kyungsoo up off the floor and carried the boy back up to his room where a surpised Baekhyun let out a yelp of surprise at the sight of his boyfriend carrying in a sobbing mess that was once Kyungsoo.

“What happened?!” Baekhyun shrieked as Chanyeol laid Kyungsoo down on Baekhyun’s bed.

Chanyeol shrugged, “I don’t know. I found him like this on the stairs on my way back from the shop” he gestured to the bags he’d just dropped on the floor.

Baekhyun frowned as he watched Chanyeol sit down on the bed and pull Kyungsoo over to him, resting the younger’s head in his lap and his hair soothingly.

“Hey, Kyunggie” Chanyeol cooed softly, “Do you wanna tell me what happened?”

Kyungsoo sniffled and looked up at Chanyeol wide eyed, “I t-think I made a b-b-big mess of th-things” he got out.

“What makes you think that, mm?” Chanyeol said, his voice softer than Baekhyun had ever heard it, making him smile at what a good friend his boyfriend was to the people he cared for. Another reason he didn’t understand what was happening with Chanyeol and Kris.

“Kai. I-I-I.. I think I r-r-really upset him” Kyungsoo stuttered through his staggered breaths, “I t-told him... I love h-him”

Chanyeol furrowed his brows for a moment and looked at Kyungsoo in confusion, “But isn’t that what he wanted?”

“Yeah...” Kyungsoo said in an airy whisper, his eyes drooping from tiredness, “B-But not the way I d-d-did it”

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun asked, but was met with the sound of soft snores coming from Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol smiled at Baekhyun softly, “Well, I guess the little guy was exhausted.”

“From what I hear, he’s not been sleeping much lately” Baekhyun said, helping Chanyeol to lay Kyungsoo down without waking him, allowing Chanyeol to get up whilst Baekhyun draped a cover over the sleeping younger.

“Really?” Chanyeol asked, keeping his voice low, “How come?”

“Well, for one, he’s been studying like mad because he wants to get into this university in Dundee, but he needs a scholarship. He wants to go into Forensic Anthropology, remember? And then there’s the fact that Kai’s been keeping him up all the time too, trying to keep him away from Hyunsik, and even Amber...” Baekhyun sighed, “It’s ridiculous, honestly”

“You’re not wrong there” Chanyeol sighed, “Come on, I’ll take you out for hot chocolate, ‘Soo needs his rest”

Baekhyun smiled and threw on his jacket before taking a hold of Chanyeol’s hand and letting his giant of a boyfriend lead the way.

They were half way down the stairs when they ran into Kris and Tao, who were heading back up to their rooms.

Kris stopped and grabbed Chanyeol’s arm, making the younger stop too. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.

Chanyeol glared slightly, but a nudge from Baekhyun made him relent, “Fine. Make it quick”

“Tao and I will wait down stairs, meet us when you’re done and we’ll all go for hot choc” Baekhyun smiled.

“We will?” Asked Tao.

Baekhyun nodded, grabbing Tao’s hand and pulling him back down the stairs, leaving Kris and Chanyeol alone.

“What do you want?” Chanyeol asked

Kris sighed but stood his ground, “I wanted to apologise” he said, taking Chanyeol aback.

After a moment of silence, Chanyeo sighed, “I’m all ears” he said, raising an eyebrow at his best friend and folding his arms across his chest.