The next morning was close to awful. Baekhyun had woken up, nearly stepping on Chanyeol who was curled up directly at the edge of the bed where Baekhyun swung his legs over. He looked down in shock and jabbed Chanyeol with a toe, telling him to get up, to which Chanyeol responded with a groan as he rolled over and hugged the blankets tighter to his chest.

Baekhyun was completely confused why Chanyeol was shivering, because it was near eighty degrees in his room, and as he bent over, thinking Chanyeol was just not a morning person, the younger grabbed his wrist with hardly any strength behind his grip and whispered 'let me sleep' without even opening his eyes.

Baekhyun looked down at his hand which was completely pail and clammy, and he immediately went to the other side of Chanyeol where he got on his knees and placed a palm over Chanyeol's forehead.

"Oh my God Chanyeol you're burning up."

Chanyeol looked over at him with the smallest of smiles.

"I'm fine."

Baekhyun shook his head, his thoughts going into panic mode.

"No you're not Chanyeol. My parents are going to be gone for the next week, I already told you that, I don't know what to do. Should I take you to the hospital? Should I call your mom? Chanyeol do you want to go home? what am I doing."

Chanyeol blew air in Baekhyun's face and the elder looked at him with wide eyes, continuously pulling the blankets up to Chanyeol's chin.

"Byun Baekhyun calm the down. You have to go to school."

Baekhyun shook his head and pulled away.

"No I'm not going to school. First I'm going to take your temperature, then I'll make you some food. Can you manage to get up? I could move you to my bed."

A very weak Chanyeol eventually managed to stand, stumbling into Baekhyun's bed only to be covered by at least ten blankets as Baekhyun anxiously searched for more.

He then took Chanyeol's temperature and nearly had a panic attack. The numbers 107 showed up and he started running around the room yelling to the walls (and Chanyeol who was trying very hard to sleep) that "Oh my god you have a fever and it's ing high and oh my nuggets Chanyeol are you going to die?! No I can't let you die after your first night at my house what do I do. Hold on I'm going to start a bath and get you something from the medicine cabinet or maybe I'll get everything from my medicine cabinet just hold on."

Three hours sitting in a lukewarm bath, a large dose of medicine, and three bowls of porridge all ranging from incredibly burnt to only-slightly-black, and Chanyeol's fever was down to 103 and Baekhyun was at a loss of breath after panicking for the entire three hours.

He collapsed onto his chair next to the bed, scooting forward and bending over Chanyeol who seemed to be very soundly asleep with flushed cheeks and short breaths.

"Hey Chanyeol?" He whispered, brushing hair from Chanyeol's forehead. "Thank you for getting better."

He threw his head back, his chair sliding inches away from the bed as he stared at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry for being so ty yesterday. I was just jealous, of you and Luhan, y'know? I hate how he's so obvious about his feelings."

"Byun,"

Baekhyun froze in his seat, shutting his mouth and very slowly lifting his head to look at Chanyeol, not daring to utter a word because what if Chanyeol had just heard his stupid confession?

"You're great."

Baekhyun laughed lightly.

"Are you awake?"

There was no response as Baekhyun waited for at least two minutes in anticipation.

"Chanyeol, you're an idiot."

He grabbed his phone from the bedside table and began playing games on it, probably sitting there for about two hours before being reduced to Kdrama and hoping very hard for Chanyeol to say something else. By eleven AM Baekhyun stood, stretching his back, and looking at Chanyeol nervously as the elder made continuous whimpering noises.

The boy struggled for a few minutes before finally mumbling. "Luhan stop it!" and jumping awake.

Baekhyun stared at him for a moment in shock and Chanyeol blushed until he spoke up.

"Are you feeling better?"

Chanyeol nodded.

"I think I'm alright."

He began to sit up, swinging his legs over the bed and standing, only to practically collapse at the side of the bed. Baekhyun instantly grabbed him, and the giant ended up being draped over his shoulders.

"You're so stupid, why would you try to stand up?"

Chanyeol frowned, burying his face in Baekhyun's neck, which both pleased and surprised the elder as he tried to hold Chanyeol up better.

"Hey, uh, could you take me downstairs to the couch?"

Baekhyun nodded, and very painfully began to take Chanyeol downstairs, practically falling but still trying his best and finally getting to the couch where he leaned back to let Chanyeol off, and ended up falling on top of him.

Chanyeol lay there, his eyes going over the top of Baekhyun's head as the elder practically threw himself on top, and smiles to himself, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun who immediately felt heat rushing to his cheeks.

"Um, Chanyeol?"

"Can we just stay here together?"

He reached for the remote and the TV, adjusting on his side and allowing Baekhyun to lay on the couch with him, still holding on to the boy's waist.

"Chanyeol, I think I should say something."

He took a deep breath, feeling conflicted as he watched Disney Channel rather mindlessly and tried to contain himself.

"The thing is," He couldn't seem to find the right words in his mind but he still tried desperately to keep going. "I think we need to stop. The way you're acting, it feels like you like me, and it's really hard for me, because I don't think you do. You keep holding on to me and I don't think I can bear to be close to you if you don't actually have genuine feelings for me." He sighed, watching the Phineas and Ferb theme song then sliding his hand inconspicuously over Chanyeol's his finger's sliding in between the younger's. "You know what I'm trying to say don't you? I'm saying I like you, but unless you like me back, I think we need to stop."

He pulled Chanyeol's hands off and slid off of the couch, standing up and turning around slowly to face Chanyeol, and his heart momentarily sinking as he saw the younger, eyes shut, face flush, breathing shallow. He smiles to himself, bending over and kissing Chanyeol's forehead lightly.

"You didn't here any of that, did you."

He laughed, walking to the kitchen, running his fingers through his hair, and leaning against the counter in annoyance before beginning to calm his nerves by making something.

Chanyeol woke up to see a very large mug of coffee next to him and an equally large bowl of rice, sitting up slowly and grabbing the bowl hungrily. He looked over to see Baekhyun watching him from the armchair and he could feel himself already blushing.

"What time is it?"

"Seven PM."

"It's been really hard to take care of me, hasn't it."

Baekhyun quickly shook his head.

"I guess you could say I got used to it."

Chanyeol took a large spoonful of rice, stuffing it into his mouth, and Baekhyun watched him concerned.

"Don't eat so fast. What if you puke or something?"

Chanyeol shook his head with a gentle smile.

"I feel fine now. I think I'll make it."

But fourteen hours later and he wasn't so sure how 'fine' he was. He walked down the school hall, feeling utterly embarrassed about how he had acted last night, knowing Baekhyun probably had hated taking care of him.

He turned the corner, staring at the ground all the way to his locker until he heard a yell and looked up, and there was Byun Baekhyun in a fight, except this time he wasn't the one doing the shoving, he was the one being shoved. He looked utterly dejected, his eyes duller than they ever should be and a stream of blood coming from his lower lip.

Chanyeol's first instinct was to run away and hide in the bathroom, but as he was about to turn he realized he couldn't, because that was Byun Baekhyun getting punched around, needless to say, the boy he was in love with was being beaten to a bloody pulp as the lockers seemed to clang louder and louder every time he was pushed against them.

So instead he ran forward, grabbing one of the two boys of whom were doing the harassment and landing his fist on the side of his face. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing, but he kept going. He didn't like the sight of blood, and he definitely didn't like it when his fist landed on one boy's nose and he could swear he felt something crack. Fighting always looked so cool and easy in movies, but what he realized all too suddenly was that his knuckles were burning and he wanted to scream at his own pain.

He grabbed Baekhyun's arm, tugging him away as the boys were trying to recover, and running. He ran faster than he had ever remembered being able to. Bursting through the school doors he just kept going, tugging Baekhyun with him and not stopping until they got back to the house.

They threw the door open and ran inside, out of breath, and Baekhyun jerked his arm away, turning away from Chanyeol and sliding off his shoes.

He definitely wasn't acting the way Chanyeol had expected.

"Baekhyun, you're bleeding, let me see."

Baekhyun slapped his hand away, stomping past him.

"No."

"But Baekhyun.... What even got you into that?"

Baekhyun walked to the kitchen, having Chanyeol trail behind him, grabbing the handle of the fridge and standing, knuckles white and face flush.

"It was nothing. You over reacted."

Chanyeol stared at him in disbelief.

"They probably would've broken you into tiny pieces and sacrificed you if it weren't for me!"

He didn't realize he was yelling until his voice came out in a flurry of rash words and harsh tones, and Baekhyun's voice was just as loud.

"Chanyeol shut up! Don't you know what I said?! If you don't like me then leave me the alone!"

Chanyeol looked at him astonished as he spun on his heels, walking up the stairs and slamming the door hard enough to shake the house.

Chanyeol blinked, his mind suddenly racing with too many thoughts to fathom, and before he knew it he was scaling up the stairs three by three, turning the corner and stopping as soon as his face was centimeters from the door.

He lifted his hand, ready to knock, but not sure if he should, or if he even could. He looked down at his feet, his heart falling through his stomach as he knew Baekhyun wouldn't be able to hear his words.

"But I do like you dammit."

                                    ✴ Never Before ✴