Waking up next to your boyfriend in his parents place is already odd enough, but waking up next to your almost boyfriend after a romantic night on the beach just can't be explained in words.

Sehun didn't know the beauty of sleepovers and party games.  Dramas and movies made it seem like being rich made you somehow famous, that you got invited to all the hip parties and everyone wanted to be friends with you.  But the truth is, money doesn't offer fame, just a wall of separation that keeps you safe and secure in a vault free of vandalism and safe from harm. Well, harm from the outside.  There's nothing to save you from yourself in money, just a catalyst for a satisfaction that can't be bought.  And that's the problem with only having money. 

Things like friends and happiness weren't things you could buy, they were things you had to earn.   

Friends, he learned early on, were not something that a person could bargain with.  They shouldn't be used for status or security, they should be a friend out of mutual attraction, forces that brought two people together over more than money and flavorful tea.  He grew up watching his parents interact with strangers long enough to know that that wasn't what he wanted in a real friend.  He wanted someone who knew him, someone who understood him, who liked him for him.  And the sad fact was, there weren't too many decent people for him to meet at his school.  Sure, they were decent in areas, but he had high standards and he wasn't willing to budge. 

But unfortunately, high standards did come with a price, and in most of the high class schools that Sehun had attended, he had been seen as that silent kid who never interacted with anyone, never opened up to speak beyond being spoken to.  And in most cases, what few friends he always managed to round up always disappeared when the rumors began to spread.  Because in schools where kids have nothing better to do than study and gossip, news spread like wildfire--fast. 

"Did you hear that Oh company stocks went down last night?  I heard it might've been, ya know, because of recent affairs." Had been one of the rumors he caught wind of quick.  Of course, Sehun had already heard the brunt of the financial decline during one of his parents' more furious fights, but to think that the nature of the disputes had already spread so far would've been shocking.  But nothing could really phase him by that point.  And as word got around about his father sleeping around and his mother getting her fair share of the action in, too, he just sat back and tuned out all the whispers with an ear trained to silence much worse than murmurs. 

Nothing, though, had been worse than the day after his parents' divorce was announced.   It had been one of those times when he had wanted to just skip school entirely, fake sick or something, and stay away from the pain of reliving that moment over and over again with each time the rumor spread to some new person.  It wasn't even the fact it was happening that got to Sehun, because honestly, he had expected the split sooner.  He woke up morning after morning waiting for the separation and standing on a rift between wanting the fights to end and knowing that the settlements that followed would affect his life forever.  He had just never assumed things would go as far as they actually did. 

"You're up early," Tao observed in a voice still husky with sleep.  The truth was, Sehun hadn't really slept as well as he played to have.  He had spent a good portion of the time after Tao passed out tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable and feeling absolutely hopeless.  He had never shared a bed with a person before and it had been both welcomed and very, very irritating.   Tao had basically hit the bed and fallen right asleep, sprawled out with one arm wrapped loosely around Sehun's waist while he dozed.  But Sehun had been caught in that place between hot and cold, feeling smothered when he got too close to Tao's boiling temperature and too cold if he dared to depart. 

In the end, he had settled with just lying on his back and staring out the window, letting his body do the rest for him.  It worked, thankfully, and within a couple of hours he had managed to just drift off, slumbering somewhat peacefully until the first rays of the blistering sun peeked in through the window and interrupted his dreamless sleep.   He figured that the sleeping arrangement was an issue he could deal with at a later time.  He had bigger things to worry about then his sudden bought of insomnia. 

"The sun woke me up," he moaned, rolling onto his side and peering at Tao through tired eyes.  He really was beautiful, even when his eyes were swollen from sleep and his mouth wide in a huge yawn.  He was so carefree and comfortable, an attitude that always made Sehun a little jealous.  He often wished he could be so cool and cocky in his own skin, but appearances were beaten into his head so hard that he could hardly wake up in the morning without glancing in the mirror.  Today was the first time in a while he didn't feel the need to see how bad he looked just woken up.  

"Yeah, it tends to do that when the shades are up.  I told you we should've closed them last night, but someone was being a grump." Tao said, wiping the remaining sleep from his eyes and sitting up in bed, the blankets pooling off his chest to settle in his lap.  If Sehun didn't know he was wearing boxers, he would've thought he was . The thought brought a little pink flush to the skin of his cheeks.  

Luckily, Tao probably thought it was from irritation.  "It was the first time I've seen the moon so bright! I didn't want to ruin it by staring at black curtains all night.  Besides, I didn't say it was a bad thing." Tao rolled his eyes and stretched his long body in a staggered set of graceful, catlike motions.  

"Whatever you say, kiddo." It was his turn to roll his eyes, wondering when Tao would start calling him Sehun instead of kiddo.  But he'd probably miss it once it stopped.  He began to associate kiddo with Tao, and the association might that much easier to not snap every time he reminded Sehun he was an adult while Sehun was not.  

After stretching his body enough to get out all of the cracks and stiffness, Tao stood off the bed in one graceful movement, lifting his lithe frame up and stretching his long arms above his head.  Sehun watched in complacence, making a note of each muscle that peered through the tan skin, rippling with each step he took towards the hallway bathroom.  Being alone for so long had turned him into a bit of a people watcher, and even now, when he knew he could've followed Tao and maybe even been naughty enough to insist he go in with him, he couldn't bring himself to move anything but his wandering eyes.   

As soon as Tao disappeared behind the door, his eyes dropped to the floor and he searched for the shirt he had never replaced after their little adventure last night.  After the beach, Tao had insisted the walk along the pier to his favorite bubble tea shop, and while he enjoyed the bubble tea, he didn't quite like the feeling of sand itching and scratching at his sensitive skin where it clung to his shirts.  If it wasn't for the people already watching them, amused at the young couple enjoying the serene autumn night, Sehun might have just shucked them again and insisted on walking around bare-chested the whole times in double hopes that Tao wouldn't be able to take his eyes off him and relieving himself of the awful bite of sand. 

But no, he had persevered and waited the entire walk up to Tao's room to finally throw the shirt once and for all.  Yet now, sitting here and waiting for Tao to return, he wondered where his clothes actually were.  He still had on the sweatpants he had borrowed last night from Tao and couldn't even begin to fathom where he had put the other bits of his clothes.  He hadn't seen his luggage since some point yesterday, after they arrived. 

He shrugged it off and gave up searching to instead get up and do his own amount of stretching.  Of course, by sheer luck alone, he would be in the middle of that activity when Tao came walking out of the bathroom, probably smirking in pure satisfaction. 

"Well, I was about to complain about the sand in my hair from your wandering hands last night," he said on a smooth voice, surprising Sehun out of a rather provocative stance, "but if that's the price I pay for seeing this every morning, you might as well dye me a sandy blonde now."  Despite the obvious flush on his cheeks, Sehun just rolled his eyes. 

"You wouldn't look good as a blonde." Tao snorted, coming up behind him and pressing bare skin against bare skin.  The red tint on his cheeks grew into a full on hue, reaching down to touch the arms wrapped possessively around his waist.  He turned to look at his expression over his shoulder.  "You don't have the attitude." 

"That's okay," Tao replied, leaning forward to steal a good morning kiss that Sehun didn't dare deny himself, "because I prefer you as the blonde.  Though, I bet you'd look pretty fine with black hair, too."  His cat-like eyes scanned up and down Sehun's lithe body, lips settling into a smirk.  "But I'm also betting it's your natural hair color." 

He couldn't help a challenging smirk.  "And how do you know that, hmm?" He expected Tao to point out the fact that his roots were growing back in now, painting the underside of his hair a deep, dark black.  But he was alarmed, instead, to feel the slight nail that caressed the skin right above his waistband, the sultry quirk of his lips.  

That long finger trailed down until it caught the lip of his pants, slipping under the soft fabric and pulling back just a little, as if readying to disrobe him entirely.  Against his will, Sehun's heart raced in his chest, unable to look away from Tao in both fear of the unexpected and great anticipation.  Part of him wanted Tao to make that move, but the other part wasn't exactly ready for checkmate just yet. 

But Tao didn't pull his pants down any further than a mere inch, leaving Sehun's body rippling on a curve between arousal and unnerve.  Instead, he placed his forehead to Sehun's and met his eyes with a teasing, seductive leer.  

"I have a feeling that the carpet doesn't exactly match the drapes," Once again, his lips quirked up in an almost mocking manner.  "I could check so that you get a fair evaluation, though." For the first time in all of Sehun's life, he sat absolutely dumbfounded and speechless, staring at the implication in Tao's eyes, hearing it flavor his voice, and sitting on a precipice between throwing out the rule book or removing his hand, his whole body from his proximity.  

But the only answer he could manage to come up with in the time that passed was a simple, inefficient, "but your parents are home," in the most innocent, awkward voice he had ever managed in his life. 

In that one second, Sehun had forgotten every ounce of debate and diplomacy, all of the duties he had lived his life surrounded by, and was left with nothing but personal decision--a burden that he found much too difficult to bear. 

But Tao surprised him with nothing more than a hearty, amused laugh. He gently patted the his exposed belly before letting Sehun free and walking back in the direction of the shower.  "Relax, there kiddo, I'm only joking! And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go wash out the sand from last night before I really do turn into a blonde."  Despite the somewhat awkward interaction, Sehun just offered a crooked grin. 

"Careful, Tao, play more games like that one and I might just bleach both sets of your hair." As Tao stared back in horror, he just winked and continued on his merry way towards the stairs and whatever breakfast awaited.  Of course, he should've known things wouldn't be so simple. 

"Oh, good morning, Sehunnie," Tao's mother greeted him in the kitchen, lightoy ruffling his messy hair.  "When should I reserve a spot in the wedding?"  The little sip of water Sehun had just begun to swallow came shooting back out with a vengeance, leaving him huddled over the counter trying to stop his raging coughing fit while she looked back at him, smug as ever. 

"What are you talking about?" Sehun asked after he got a handle on the worse parts of his choking spasm.  "What wedding?" 

"Yours and Tao's", she teased lightly nudging him in the side.  "Don't think for a second that I didn't hear you two come stumbling in here late last night.  I can only assume as a mother that you have intentions with my son." And she was right, of course.  But was there really a surprise there?

Sehun shrugged.  "I wouldn't go as far as marriage just yet, but I guess we are...dating." The word tasted weird on his tongue.  Sehun had never dated anyone.  As far as he was concerned, he was never going to date a single soul.  He planned on finishing high school, graduating from college and just returning to the cycle of his family--becoming a CEO of some branch company his dad would let him run and maybe producing a family, if he had the heart for it.   But a lot of that had changed now.   He still wanted to finish high school and graduate college with a decent degree, but he decided that this was the last time he was going to rely on his father's connections to get him anything.  

If he wanted something bad enough, he was going to get it with his own two hands. 

Tao's mother just nodded her head and looked back at the meat she was cooking on her stove, letting out a long sigh of content.  "Whatever you two are, I wanted to thank you for it." He was sincerely shocked. 

"Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you!  We came in, unannounced and you still let me, a complete stranger, stay in your house and eat your food without any proper introduction!" She nodded her head and offered a solemn smile, but it