The day had finally arrived. The big day. The day of all days.

Graduation.

“Are you ready for this?” Baekhyun asked as he and Kyungsoo donned their gowns.

Kyungsoo shrugged, “I guess. It all seems a little surreal, you know?”

“I know, like, this is it. School’s over, and we’re off to college after summer” Baekhyun sighed softly, “you’re still going for the music programme?”

Kyungsoo hummed, his gown still hanging open as he fixed the tie hanging down his chest atop of his light blue button down, “Yeah. You and Chen, too right?”

“Yeah” Baekhyun said, tutting slightly and slapping Kyungsoo’s hands away from his tie, fixing it himself, since the younger boy seemed unable to do it, “Then Yixing is doing a double major in music and dance. Kris is taking art, Sehun and Kai are taking dance, obviously. Yeol’s doing a double major in IT and maths, because he’s weird like that. Luhan’s decided to go for graphics and then a minor in business, if I remember right. Tao’s taking textiles. And then Minseok is majoring in Business and then taking science as an additional thing, it’s at a uni, too, so that’s pretty impressive, if you ask me. But then, Min’s always been the one to watch, hasn’t he”

Kyungsoo chuckled, “You know, I do know all this right. We were all talking about it yesterday”

“I know, but I was just going over it. I... I just need to remind myself it’s real. It’s gonna be weird, not having you guys in my classes all the time, you know?” Baekhyun sighed, patting Kyungsoo’s chest lightly, then sliding his hands down the younger boy’s torso before letting his hands drop to his sides again. “What time did  Xing say he was picking us up, again?”

Kyungsoo checked his watch before grabbing his cap, “In like two minutes, come on, let’s go wait outside”

The two of them made their way downstairs and out the front door, each of them holding their cap in their hand. Baekhyun’s mum and dad had already left, wanting to get good seats, apparently, and had wished them both good luck before hand. Kyungsoo’s parents were going to meet them there.

Lay pulled up a minute later, with Kris and Chanyeol in the back, smiling widely.

“Shot gun!” Kyungsoo grinned before making his way around to the passenger side door and climbing in.

Baekhyun grumbled slightly before climbing in the back, sitting himself between Chanyeol and Kris, “Alright then. Let’s do this” he said, his voice cheerful, but with an undertone of nerves.

“Seatbelts” Lay said sternly.

He waited until they were all belted in before setting off towards the school to meet the others.

They got there fairly quickly, since traffic was light, and parked in the almost full car park. They all climbed out of the car, straightened their gowns – and zipped them up in Kyungsoo and Kris’s case – before making their way over to the crowd of students to find the others, caps in hand.

“GUYS!!”

They five of them looked up to see Chen come running at them, Xiumin in tow. Chen grinned as he threw himself at Lay and pulled him into a big hug.

Lay chuckled, hugging the excitable boy back as he did.

“Hey guys” Xiumin said with a smile, “big day, eh”

“Indeed” Kris chuckled, pulling Xiumin into a hug, only to be pulled away as Tao ran up from behind him and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Not long after that, Luhan, Sehun and Kai came walking over. Kai walked over to Kyungsoo without a pause and kissed him softly on the lips. A smile on his face as he pulled back and whispered a soft, “Hey”.

“Okay, can you get any more gay” Tao scoffed.

“Probably” Kai smirked, before kissing Kyungsoo on the cheek, then taking his hand with a wink.

Kyungsoo couldn’t help the chuckle that left his lips at that, especially when he saw the look of disbelief on Tao’s face.

“If you’re about done” Chanyeol chuckled, “we need to go and get lined up”

Reluctantly, they all split to go and take their places in line behind the curtain, ready to face that they were about to be high school graduates.

--

The ceremony, as expected, was rather long and tedious. But ended on a cheerful note as all of the caps of the graduates flew into the air to the sound of cheers – though Kyungsoo refused to throw his on the grounds that he’d paid for it and was by no means allowing it to get dirtied up when people re-claimed their own – before everyone went off to find their parents and such.

Kyungsoo was about to walk over to Kai’s parents, but felt a hand on his shoulder, which stopped him.

“Kyungsoo”

Kyungsoo turned to smile up at his dad, but found his smile faultering, as beside his dad, wearing an awkward, guilty smile, was his mother.

“M-Mum?” Kyungsoo choked out, unable to stop himself.

His mum smiled softly, though the guilt was undeniably written on her face, “Hey, Kyungsoo” she said, “You looked so handsome up there. We’re proud of you”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, not really sure why his brain to mouth filter was choosing not to work.

His mum sighed, “Can we go somewhere less crowded and talk?”

“I think here is fine” Kyungsoo said quietly, not really sure why he didn’t want to be alone with his mother, after all that time.

His mum nodded though, obviously expecting the refusal to go elsewhere, “Kyungsoo...” she began, “I want you to know I am so, so sorry. I was wrong before. I know that now. I was so very wrong to act how I did, when I found out about you... you and Jongin. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t have my suspicions before... I should have seen it coming, I should... I should have been there for you. Supported you. But I did the worst thing a mother could do right then, and I... There isn’t an excuse for how I acted, there really isn’t... but you’re my baby boy. You’re my son, and I am so sorry. I hope to god you can forgive me for how I acted...”

Kyungsoo was a little speechless, to say the least, but found it in himself to nod. “I can’t promise it’ll be all peachy” he said, his voice quiet and breaking slightly, as he tried his best not to tear up, “But I can try... I want you to be a part of my life, mum, I do. But, I need you to be okay with who I am. And like it or not, I’m... g-gay. That’s not going to change. Ever. And I need you to be okay with that before I can even think about forgiving you...”

“Oh, Kyungsoo!” His mum cried, pulling him into a tight hug, “Oh course I accept you. I don’t care that you like boys. I only care that you’re happy. I was wrong before. Wrong about everything. I could care less who you love, as long as you’re happy and healthy, it doesn’t effect me. I love you, Kyungsoo”

Kyungsoo couldn’t stop himself from hugging back. Finally, after everything he’d been through, his mother accepted him. Loved him like a mother should love her son. She wanted to be a part of his life, even if he was gay. He was her son, she’d said it. Everything he wanted, everything he needed, to hear. She’d said it. And he hadn’t realised how much he’d needed his mum, needed her to be there for him, to love him unconditionally, until that moment. That moment when she held him in her arms and he cried, because although he tried not to, he couldn’t help himself.

“Momma” Kyungsoo let out in a shaky voice, “I’ve missed you, so much”

Kyungsoo’s mum held him tighter, she too, tearing up, “Oh, I’ve missed you, too, baby. I’m sorry, so sorry”

Kyungsoo nodded, then smiled a small smile as he felt his father join in the hug from behind him.

Across the room, Kai smiled at the sight of his boyfriend with his family.

His mum put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, “It seems that woman has finally come to her senses” she said.

“Seems like it” Kai nodded, “It’s about time, too.”

Kai’s dad laughed a hearty laugh, “Yah, how about we go and say hi to the in-laws?”

“Dad!”

“What? I’m just predicting the future, and something tells me, it’s headed that way” his dad shot him a wink, “Now come on. Let’s go”

With that, the three of them, followed by Kai’s sisters, walked over to greet Kyungsoo and his parents.

--

“I’m a free , baby!!”

“Luhan, language!”

“Sorry, Mama”

Luhan’s dad rolled his eyes and turned to face Lay’s dad, “He’s always like this. Really, I thought I was raising a calm kid, but he turns out like this” he chuckled.

“Yixing’s not too bad with the excitement” Lay’s dad grinned, “Spacing out, though... That kid would miss his own birthday if you didn’t remind him about it every year”

“Baba! I’m not that bad!” Lay huffed, “I always remember the important things!”

Lay’s dad smirked, “When’s your birthday?”

“...” Lay paused, then grinned, “October Seventh!” he said, “Ha!”

“You had to think about it, though” his dad pointed out.

Before Lay could reply though, Luhan grabbed him by the arm and tugged at it, “Lay, come on, I see Mr. Kim! Let’s go say hi as official college guys! Oh, I wonder if he’ll let us call him by his name now, since we’re not his students anymore!”

“I doubt it, Lu” Lay chuckled as the two of them walked over to the teacher, who was engaged in a conversation with Xiumin and his parents.

“... He’s been wonderful to teach. An absolute pleasure. One of my top students, and one of my favourites. It’ll be sad to not see his smiling face in my classes anymore” Suho smiled brightly at Xiumin’s parents, who were looking immensely proud of their son.

“Junmyeon-ssi!” Luhan called out happily, as he skipped over, dragging Lay as he did, before letting go of Lay and latching onto Xiumin.

“I think it’s a bit soon for you to be calling me like that, Luhan” Suho rolled his eyes, “You literally graduated like five minutes ago... And more to the point, I was in a conversation with Minseok’s lovely parents, here”

Luhan grinned at Xiumin’s parents, “It’s okay, Sir, they don’t mind. Right? Right?”

“Luhan, I see you’ve not lost that cheekiness of yours” Xiumin’s mum laughed softly, “and Yixing-ah, my how you’ve grown since the last time we saw you. You’ve become such a handsome young man. I think I’ll be jealous of the lucky person that gets you”

Xiumin’s dad tutted, “Yah, that’s too much, honey” he said, “I’ll get jealous”

“God. Mum, dad, can you not?” Xiumin grimaced.

His dad grinned, “Yah, shut up and go find Jongdae. We’ll finish talking with Mr Kim, and then head home. We’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay” Xiumin rolled his eyes, “You coming?” he asked Luhan and Lay.

“Yeah” Luhan nodded, “Bye, sir”

Lay smiled up at Suho, “See you around” he said, making Suho smile at the hidden meaning behind the words.

“Yeah, see you” Suho smiled as Lay walked off with Luhan and Xiumin.

The three of them walked over to Chen, who was in, what seemed like, a very deep conversation with Chanyeol and Kris, since all three of their parents had gone home, with promises of presents when they got home themselves.

Xiumin smiled as he backhugged Chen and rested his chin on the younger’s shoulder whilst he carried on his conversation with Kris and Chanyeol, though he let his hands rest atop of Xiumin’s on his stomach.

Lay went and stood beside Kris, wrapping an arm around the giant’s waist, whilst Kris settled an arm around his shoulders. Luhan stood on Lay’s other side, holding the younger boy’s hand, whilst listening to what Chanyeol, Chen and Kris were blabbering on about.

“... So, like, it’s not actually that hard, once you know how to do it all. Trouble is, it’s really hard to explain, you know...” Chanyeol said, his face serious, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to find the right wording.

“I don’t think you’re ever gonna be able to explain to us how you can basically hack everything” Chen rolled his eyes, as he started to sway slightly with Xiumin.

Kris chuckled, “We have our own, like, super spy or something. Does this mean if we need to get rid of something, say... evidence that we’ve done something illegal online, you can hook us up?”

“You want me to break the law for you?” Chanyeol deadpanned, then broke into a terrifyingly bright grin, “Of course I ing will. Going against the government is pretty much the reason I got into computers in the first place!”

Luhan blinked, “I can honestly say, I was not expecting this conversation when I came over here...”

“What were you expecting?” Chen asked, raising an eyebrow at the deer-like boy.

Luhan shrugged as he took Lay’s hand between both of his own and began to play with it, “Dunno. Just, not this. Maybe something about asses... Or something ual, just not... Computers”

“Hacking, to be more specific” Chanyeol said, one corner of his lips turned up in a slight smirk.

“Whatever” Luhan rolled his eyes, “Hey, where’s Sehun?”

Lay glanced over his shoulder, “He’s with Tao” he said.

Luhan glanced over to where Lay had just been looking and sure enough, Sehun and Tao were giggling together in the corner like two twelve year old girls.

“Ladies and gentleman, the boy I’m going out with” Luhan muttered under his breath before dropping Lay’s hand and taking a step back from the other five, “I’m gonna go and talk to Sehun, I’ll see you guys later?”

The others nodded as he took his leave.

Luhan smiled as he approached Sehun and Tao, “Hey” he said.

“Oh, Hey Lu” Sehun grinned, throwing an arm over Luhan’s shoulders.

“I’m gonna go and talk to Baek” Tao said, “Bye guys” before walking away and leaving the two alone. Or as alone as they could be in a room full of students and their families.

Sehun looked down at Luhan and smiled softly, “So, we did it, huh” he said, “We’re finally leaving this dump”

“Yeah” Luhan breathed, “Looks like we did... I kind of can’t believe it’s all over, you know? Like, this is it. The last time we’ll be here. I think I’m gonna miss it”

Sehun nodded, “Mm, I get that. It’s like... weird that it’s all over. But at the same time, we’re moving on to bigger and better things, you know”

“Yeah. I know” Luhan smiled, tiptoeing to give Sehun a soft peck on the lips.

Sehun smiled as Luhan moved back and looked up at him with a shy grin, “Let’s go talk to your parents”

“Yeah, okay”

--

It was a while before the place cleared out, but the boys were gone long before it did.

The eleven of them made their way into the car park, where Lay’s, Xiumin’s cars were parked.

“We really need to start bringing more than two cars” Xiumin pointed out as they stood there in the middle of the car park, since Lay and Xiumin were parked quite far away from one another.

Sehun laughed, “Well, I would have driven, but I came with my parents, so they have the car...”

“Yeah, well, I’m just saying. Lay, you can take more this time, since I don’t fancy getting arrested if we get caught” Xiumin grinned, “So, who’s with who?”

Lay rolled his eyes, “Well, you take Kris, Yeol, Tao and Baek. I’ll take the rest”

“I get all the big ones and Baekhyun, then? Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to take Sehun, and you take all the little ones and Kai?”

“That’s true, okay, I’ll take the shorties”

“We’re right here you know” Kyungsoo pointed out, at which Lay and Xiumin just grinned.

Luhan scoffed, “And you two ain’t exactly the definition of height yourselves”

“Did you still want a lift?” Lay said, raising an eyebrow.

Luhan just huffed and followed him back to his car, along with Kai, Kyungsoo, Chen and Baekhyun.

Each of them shed their gowns in the car before buckling up – Baekhyun and Kyungsoo having to share a belt – and making their way to the nearest McDonalds.

It didn’t take them too long to get there, and thankfully, it wasn’t too busy when they did. Xiumin pulled up first, and Lay followed suit, parking in the space next to him, before cutting the engine. They all climbed out, donned in formal looking attire, all slacks and button down shirts, though they’d all loosened their ties, and those of them that were wearing waistcoats, let them hang open.

“Let’s do this, es” Chen said, before leading the way into the fast food joint.

They’d decided to go there as kind of a last hurrah to high school, since they’d all be at home with their parents for a nice dinner later. They were all meeting up after, though.

Not to hit up one of the parties being thrown by the ‘popular kids’ but more to just hang out over a few drinks and say goodbye to life as high schoolers. A few others were joining them, namely Mark, Jackson, Jaebum and Jinyoung, since the other three weren’t graduating until the year after, but they were keeping it quiet.

“I think we got too much food” Xiumin said as they laid out everything on the table to share.

Tao shook his head earnestly, “Gege, there is no such thing as ‘too much food’ gosh” he let out a small tut before grabbing a handful of fries and shoving them into his mouth.

“Let’s just eat well and not worry about that anyway” Chen grinned, “I’m sure we’ll finish it all between us. Since Tao’ll probably have half of it”

“ you” Tao said around a mouthful of food.

Chen rolled his eyes as his nose scrunched up in distaste, “Not even if you were the last person on earth” he scoffed, “I have taste”

Tao glared at Chen, his mouth having stopped chewing, but before he could get out a word, Kris let out a long, low whistle.

“That’s low, man. I mean, come on. The only reason you wouldn’t him is because you’d be too ing short to reach anything important” the giant smirked.

Chen paused for a moment, “If that was a comment about my , I have two people at this very table that can tell you otherwise”

“I really don’t want to stand up for him right now,” Xiumin sighed, “But, Kris... Jongdae’s junk is more than enough to please anyone... Just sayin’, dude”

Kris looked a little sceptical as he turned his gaze to Lay, “Really?” he mouthed.

Lay gave him a one shouldered shrug, “Unfortunately for you, Min’s telling the truth”

“Wow... I actually didn’t see that coming” Kris laughed.

“Um, guys. I’m trying to eat here, and if you keep talking about Jongdae’s , I will have to kill each and every last one of you” Kyunfsoo said, face serious.

The others could help but laugh at that before tucking in and devouring the food they’d ordered. Fries, burgers, nuggets, anything they liked and then some.

It was a cheerful meal, though they all knew they’d regret eating so much when dinner with their families rolled around. They chattered on about the things they’d miss, the things they’d be glad to leave behind. Their favourite teachers, their least favourites. Their best classes and the ones they wanted to just forget ever happened.

Once the meal was over, they binned their rubbish and made their way back out to the car park. The sun was already starting to set, casting a pink-orange hue over the land.

“Damn, it’s really over isn’t it” Sehun sighed, leaning against the front of Lay’s car.

Kai hummed, “It sure is, buddy”

“D’reckon we’ll all stay this close through college?” Baekhyun asked, leaning back against Chanyeol, who wrapped his arms tightly around the shorter boy, “Or d’you think we’ll like, all go our separate ways?”

Lay sighed, “Well, if it has anything to do with me, I’m gonna be on you guys like glue for the rest of my life, so...”

The others couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“I think we’ll all stay like this. I mean, we’re all at the same college, by some miracle, so I think we’ll be alright” Luhan said softly, “I mean, think about it. This time last year, we didn’t even know each other that well, we were like, two groups that had people talk to each other on occasion, but now, we’re like a family-”

 “That’d be kinda uous, but whatever”

“- shut the up, Kai. Anyway, we’ve gotten this close, so college’ll be nothing, right. As long as we make an effort with each other, nothing can go wrong”

Chanyeol smiled, “Well, unless someone makes a mess of things again” he shot a pointed look at both Kris and Chen.

“Is that really necessary?” Chen narrowed his eyes at the happy giant.

“Yes, yes it is” Chanyeol replied easily.

Despite himself, Chen cracked a smile as he wrapped an arm around Xiumin’s shoulders.

“So,” Kyungsoo said, “Who’s taking who home?”

“Me and Lu are gonna walk” Sehun said, “So we’ll split now. See you guys later, yeah?”

The others nodded as Sehun pushed himself back into a standing position and grabbed Luhan’s hand.

“See you later” Luhan called over his shoulder as he and Sehun left.

Lay sighed and fished his keys out of his pocket, “Well, I’ll take Kai, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, then. You can take the other three”

“The other three have names, you know” Chen pouted.

Lay laughed, “Really? Are you sure?”

“Assbutt” Chen insulted with a smile, making Lay laugh again.

They split into the aforementioned groups and piled into the two cars.

Xiumin rolled down his car window, gesturing for Lay to do the same. Lay rolled his eyes, but obliged anyway, “What?” he asked.

Xiumin grinned, “Don’t be late for drinks, okay? We all know what you’re like”

“I’ll be on time! It’s Kris I’m worried about. He’s always too worried about his hair to be on time” Lay grinned, “Adios amigo!” he called before rolling his window back up, staring the engine, and heading off, first to drop off Baekhyun, then Chanyeol, then Kai.

When it was just him and Kyungsoo left in the car, the younger boy turned to him with a smile, “So” he said.

“What?” asked Lay.

“When are you going to tell me who it is you’re dating secretly?” Kyungsoo asked in return.

Lay almost choked on air as he turned a corner, and risked a quick glance at Kyungsoo, who was watching him with an amused smile, “What do you mean? I’m not!”

“Oh please. Do you really think I’m that naive? There’s something going on with you, and I’ll be damned if I don’t find out what” Kyungsoo tutted, “So come on, spill”

Lay sighed and pulled up in front of Kyungsoo’s house, “It’s... Complicated.”

“But you are? Dating someone, I mean” Kyungsoo asked, unbuckling his belt, but making no move to get out the car.

Lay ran a hand over his face, “Yes, I am. I have been for a while now”

Kyungsoo nodded, “Okay” he said, “And why can’t you tell me, hell, us, who it is?”

“I told you, it’s complicated” Lay said, “Look, I’ll tell you guys in time. When it’s... When I can, but for now, can you just pretend like we didn’t have this conversation?”

“Fine” Kyungsoo sighed, opening the door and stepping out the car. He paused for a moment before ducking his head back down to look at Lay, “We’ll be here for you, though. No matter what. I hope you know that. We’re like... a big family, Yixing. We are... One. You’d do well to remember that” he said, before standing back up straight, closing the car door and walking inside his house, throwing a small wave over his shoulder to Lay as he did.

Lay let out a long sigh before pulling out his phone and dialling his mother’s number. She picked up after two rings.

“Yixing? What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding concerned.

Lay smiled softly, “Nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to ask if we can do the celebratory dinner tomorrow night instead? Something came up, and a friend needs me, so I’m going to go and comfort him, okay? I’ll be home tomorrow afternoon” he lied smoothly.

He didn’t like lying to his parents, but he didn’t feel like going home right then, he just wanted Suho.

“Okay. We can do it tomorrow. Look after your friend well, okay?”

Lay hummed, “I will, Mama. I love you, tell Baba I love him, too! See you tomorrow”

“We love you too, sweetheart. See you tomorrow. I’ll hang up now” and with that, the line went dead.

Lay sighed again before clicking on Suho’s number and calling.

“Xing? What’s up?” Suho answered.

“Are you doing anything right now?” Lay asked, not bothering to answer the question.

“No, just sitting watching TV, why?”

“I have a few hours before I need to meet the guys... Can I come over?” Lay asked, aware of his engine still on, and that he should really turn it off if he was going to be much longer.

“The door’s unlocked. Just come in when you get here” Suho said, and Lay could hear the smile in his voice.

“Okay, see you soon” he answered before hanging up and tossing his phone onto the passenger’s seat before heading off to Suho’s.

--

It was around nine o’clock when they all met up at the local pub. They sat at a table, which consisted of two tables pushed together to make enough room for the fifteen of them.

“Thanks for inviting us, by the way, guys” Jaebum smiled, a hand around his pint.

Kris waved him off, “It’s cool, man. The more the merrier and all that ”

“Wow, I feel so welcomed right now” Jackson rolled his eyes.

Mark nudged him with his shoulder, “Play nice” he muttered to the slightly younger boy.

Jackson shot him his infamous eating grin, “Just relax” he said.

Lay rolled his eyes at the pair before turning his gaze elsewhere. He noticed Kyungsoo watching him, and shifted his shirt slightly to hide the love-bite on his neck, courtesy of Suho, who had given it to him before he’d left to meet his friends.

“Lay?”

Lay’s head snapped up, and his gaze met that of a concerned Sehun, “Yeah?” he asked, fidgeting slightly.

“What are you trying to hide?” Sehun asked, “What’s that on your neck?”

Now, Lay was a calm guy, he didn’t get pissed off, or annoyed that easily, and when he did, he brushed it off most of the time, but right in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to throttle the kid known as Oh Sehun.

“Wah, is that a love-bite?” Asked Luhan, who was practically draped over Sehun, even after having only one and a half beers.

“No!” Lay hissed, trying his best to keep his composure. He was going to kill Suho when he saw him later that night.

Chen smirked, but didn’t add fuel to the fire, then again, he didn’t feel the need to help either.

Baekhyun scoffed, “It is! Oh my god, who have you been getting off with?”

“Nobody that concerns you” Lay’s eyes narrowed, “Now can we leave it, and get on with having a good night, because you guys are ruining mine”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “Coming from the guy with the big- love-bite on his neck”

“I’m going to the bathroom” Lay said, not bothering to look back as he stood up and walked to the men’s toilets.

Once he was in there he let out an irritated noise and kicked the wall. It was getting really tiring having to hide things. He whipped out his phone and hit call on one of his contacts.

“Miss me already?”

“You gave me a love-bite” Lay deadpanned, “My friends saw it and now they’re asking questions.”

There was a pause on Suho’s end before he said, “You’re not in school anymore. If you want them to know... If.. If you trust them not to tell anyone, then... I’ll leave it up to you if you want to tell them or not”

“You really wouldn’t mind?” Lay asked, slightly sceptical, but touched nonetheless.

“I just want you to be happy, Xing. I trust you, and if you trust your friends, then so do I. You do what you have to do, and I’ll support you, no matter what”

“I love you” Lay said, his anger gone with the wind.

“I love you, too” Suho replied fondly, “I’m hanging up now. See you later, love. Have a good night, okay”

“Okay”

Lay smiled as he pocketed his phone. He was about to walk back out when someone came in. It was Mark.

“Oh, Lay, are you okay? I just came to check if you were alright” Mark said, a little nervously.

Lay smiled at him, “I’m fine. Thank you” he chuckled, “I just... Got a little upset before, but it’s all fixed now.”

“You were on the phone, right? Was it to that guy they’re all talking about?” Mark asked, then grimaced at himself, “Sorry, I’m being nosy. Just ignore me”

Lay chuckled again, more heartily this time, “No no, it’s fine. Yeah, I was. I was, uh, yeah. That guy. My boyfriend, actually. He was just saying that if I wanted to finally tell my friends about us, then I can go for it... But I’m kinda... scared”

“Why?” Mark asked, tilting his head to the side, “I mean, I don’t really hang with you guys often, but I can tell they adore you. I mean, they’ll stand by you, for anything, right? So, why are you afraid?”

Lay smiled, “I don’t even know” he laughed, “But come on, let’s go back. It’s now or never, right?”

“Right” Mark smiled, taking Lay’s hand and leading the way back to the table.

When they both sat down, everyone looked at Lay expectantly.

“I have a boyfriend” he said, seeing no reason to beat around the bush.

Kris smiled, obviously already knowing that much.

Chen’s eyes widened, “Xing...” he said softly.

“I’ve spoke to him... He doesn’t mind if I tell you guys. He... It’s complicated, okay” Lay said, “And if I tell you, I need you to not tell anyone, at least not for a while”

Tao frowned, “Why not?” he asked.

“It could cause a lot of trouble” Lay sighed, “But I can trust you guys, right?”

“Of course” was the collective answer from around the table.

Lay took a deep breath, “So, I’ve been seeing him since around the time we went on that camping trip last year...”

There was a pause before Kyungsoo gasped.

“Holy ...” the owl-eyed boy said, “It can’t be... Lay, are you telling me that you and... and him?”

Lay knew right away that Kyungsoo had gotten it, so he nodded.

“What? What’s going on?” Xiumin asked, “Xing, who’s the guy?”

Kai looked between Kyungsoo and Lay, before his eyes widened, “No ing way! How did I not get that before?! You’re always... And he... And so much time together... Favourite...”

“Favourite..?” Kris said quietly, before it all clicked into place, “Oh my god...”

Lay remained quiet, as one by one – bar Jackson, Mark, Jinyoung and Jaebum – the boys came to the realisation of who Lay’s mystery man was.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Luhan asked, “Please tell me this is a joke...”

Lay shook his head, “No, it’s not a joke”

And so they knew.

It was quiet for a long time after that, the only noise was that of people chugging down their drinks before Xiumin sighed and said;

“You’re happy, right? With him?”

Lay nodded, “Beyond happy”

“Then I’m behind you every step of the way, Xing. What are friends for?” Xiumin smiled.

Chen beamed at his boyfriend, “I knew you’d support them, when you found out”

“You knew?!” Xiumin asked, and Chen nodded with a grin.

“Well,” Kyungsoo piped up, “you weren't kidding when you said it was complicated” he chuckled, making the others laugh, even the four boys who only barely knew what was happening.

Kris grinned, “Hey, it looked like we’re all paired up now!”

“Uh, me and JB are both single” Jinyoung said, albeit a tad awkwardly.

Jackson turned and smirked at them both, “Give it time” he said, and again, the boys broke into obnoxious laughter.

“It’s gonna be a good summer boys, I can feel it!” Kai grinned holding his drink up in the air, “TO US!” he all but screamed.

“TO US!” The others all called back, drinks in the air and smiles on their faces.

School had been one hell of a roller coaster ride. But now, they were on to bigger and better things.

A/N: Wow... So this is the last chapter, and it's only the epilogue left...
I've not proof read this yet, since I've been busy with work and stuff... But, uh yeah...
Comment and let me know what you thought
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Much loves~
Until next time<3