This was originally a solo one-shot but I decided to add it to the collection

Kris knew he was going to miss Tao, he knew the moment he stared into those expectant brown orbs. But it wasn’t his fault, life was calling Kris away from him. Kris laid his hand on top of Tao’s head, his fingers lightly combing through the youngers stark black hair. Kris really loved Tao, he always had, the moment he first saw Tao he knew his heart had been taken.

 ‘Kris! Kris, Get back here!’ The young adult scowled as he ignored his girlfriend, she was always demanding him around, saying he had to take responsibility, he could do it, he would show her. Later that is, he spent way too much time making her happy, she was a piece of work that one. Shaking his annoyed thoughts from his head his gaze immediately fell on the shivering mass of black hair, huddled into the side of a garbage can.

 Crouching Kris stared at him, he wasn’t surprised to see large obsidian eyes staring back at him, he wasn’t surprised to see how dirty he was, he was however surprised by the sudden warmth that erupted in his chest, soon flooding through the rest of his body, leaving him feeling dizzy and ecstatic at the same time. ‘Hi there,’ Kris watched as he stared at him unsure, staying in the shadows of the garbage can. ‘I’m Kris,’ Kris reached out his hand, smiling, ‘and you can trust me, I won’t hurt you.’ He watched as he crawled out slowly, revealing his tired worn face. ‘You’re pretty young, aren’t you?’ Kris smiled and placed a hand on his matted head, ‘you’re a guy aren’t you, I can tell, I’ve always been able to. Why not you come home with me, I’ll fix you up, I promise I’ll keep you safe, alright, Tao?’ Almost instinctively he said the name, within moments Kris’ lips pulled up into a satisfied smile, Tao, it suited the poor boy.

 Kris also remembered how angry his girlfriend got, he lived with her in a small two room apartment, and instead of encouraging Kris to help him she freaked, lecturing him on how they were already low on budget, and how she didn’t know how they could possibly care for him, let alone where he would sleep. But he fought hard, he did swear to protect him afterall.

 ‘Oh, Kris!’ His girlfriend placed her hands on her hips, dragging out his name as she clicked her tongue. ‘Look at him! He’s so, so dirty!’

 ‘I know,’ Kris crossed his arms, staring down at his girlfriend. Kris wasn’t going to give up Tao, it wasn’t going to happen. ‘I’ll wash him.’

 ‘You’ll wash him? You’ll was him!?’ She threw her hands up in frustration the sudden movement surprising Tao, and sending him skittering behind the corner of the wall, tentatively sneaking looks at her and Kris.

 ‘Yes, that’s what I said,’ Kris rolled his eyes, barely containing his annoyance.

 ‘And where will he sleep?’

 ‘He can sleep with me,’ he watched as her lips twitched downwards in disgust.

 ‘He is not going to sleep with you!’  

 ‘He needs our help! I found him lying out there all alone! He’s covered in dirt and I can feel his ribs! He needs us!’ Kris watched as she stared at Tao, her lips jutting out in an unattractive pout.

 ‘Fine, you know what, fine,’ grabbing her coat and purse she rushed to the door, yanking on her black heels. ‘I’m leaving, and he better be clean before I get here again, do you hear me?’

 ‘Yeah,’ Kris’ lips pulled up into a dazed smile as he looked at Tao. ‘Yeah I hear you, he’ll be all cleaned up.’

 Kris sighed and looked away from Tao as he closed his eyes, he could feel Tao pressing his head against his chest, ‘Tao, please don’t.’ Kris stood up, getting up off the couch, he could hear the creaking of the couch as Tao moved to get up. ‘Don’t, stay there,’ Kris covered his face with his palms, he had gone through so much to help Tao, and he enjoyed every minute of it. It hadn’t taken long for him to even like Tao’s presence more than his girlfriends. In fact that was the exact reason why they broke up, and why she moved out.

 ‘Hey, Tao,’ he smiled and patted Tao’s cheek, kissing the youngers forehead before he closed the front door behind him, making his way to the kitchen. ‘You’re hungry right?’ He smiled at Tao, laughing to himself, he didn’t expect a reply, he never got one, he only got looks and whimpers but that was all he needed. Kris understood the silent boy perfectly, he didn’t understand their connection, he didn’t need to, he just knew it was there, and he was glad for it. He was glad Tao trusted him at all, it was clear Tao was abused when he was younger, it was clear some of the scars would never heal, all Kris could hope for was that Tao would let him heal what he could.

 ‘So, what’s for supper?’ His girlfriend walked into the kitchen as she yawned, her camisole was barely on her shoulders, the top was riding down showing her bright green bra and her straps were hanging loose on her arms. She lightly ruffled her stylish bed head, jutting her red lips out in what she imagined was a y pout.

 ‘I don’t know, what do you want?’ Kris barely registered his girlfriends provocative actions, his attention was completely on the fridge. ‘I was thinking chicken, Tao likes chicken,’ Kris looked at Tao, smiling when he saw the excited look flash across Tao’s face. ‘Chicken it is,’ he smiled and grabbed the container of chicken out of the fridge.

 ‘Kris! Will you at least look at me!’ She stamped her foot watching as Kris dropped the chicken on the counter, staring at her wide eyed.

 ‘Yeah, what is it?’ His thick eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her, he couldn’t understand why she was so upset. His eyes trailed down until he caught her shirt, that was still riding down her chest. ‘Babe, your shirts riding down,’ with a small smile he brushed the straps into their proper place, lightly pulling the shirt up more so her bra wasn’t showing. ‘That’s not very appropriate,’ he pinched her nose softly, smiling at her before he turned back to the chicken, considering what to make, he could make quesadillas again. He frowned as looked over at Tao, but Tao didn’t like those very much.

 ‘Kris!’ His girlfriend forcefully spun him around, glaring at him with her angry blue eyes. ‘Why won’t you pay attention to me anymore! You’re completely ignoring me!’

 ‘I am not!’ Kris frowned, instinctively his gaze moved to Tao, who was already starting to shiver from her yelling. ‘Okay, babe, please, be quiet,’ he raised his hands in the air slowly, ‘you’re scaring Tao.’

‘I don’t care about Tao! I care about you and me! I mean ever since you brought him into the house he’s gotten more attention from you then I have! Tao this, Tao that, he doesn’t matter! And you know what, not only has he gotten more kisses from you than I have but he gets to sleep with you every night! We haven’t slept together ever since he got here!’ Storming away from Kris she grabbed her jacket yanking it on. ‘I was giving you one last chance, and you failed me Kris, did you even notice I have been steadily moving out?’ Kris frowned scanning the apartment, he hadn’t even noticed her movies and cds disappearing from beside his, and he really should have noticed her mountain of shoes disappearing but his eyes hadn’t been for that either.

 ‘Babe,’ Kris rubbed his eyes, sighing heavily he looked at Tao who had hidden in the corner again, his body racked with violent shudders. ‘Babe please don’t I understand, just don’t take it out on Tao, he’s terrified.’ He watched his girlfriend stomp her feet, her face going red with anger.

 ‘You know what!’ She slammed the closet door open, making Tao jump, with a thump she yanked out her large travelling suitcase. ‘I’m done, I’m moving in with my friend, this is the last of my stuff.’ Pulling her suitcase to the door she swung it open, freezing for a moment to stare at Kris. ‘And you know what? If you like Tao so much more than me, why not you just date him!’ She walked out the door, flinging it shut behind her. Kris stared at the door motionless, his mind blank, he couldn’t believe what just happened, had she really just left him?

 The only thing that snapped Kris out of his revere was the faint whimpers emitting from the corner, Kris looked at Tao, his gaze softening immediately. Walking over to him, he kneeled on the ground hugging Tao as he ran his hand down his back soothingly, ‘I know Tao, I know. It’ll get better, I promise. I’ll keep you safe.’

 Tao became his constant companion, the one who always welcomed him when he came home, he always helped Kris when he was upset, and he was always there when he just needed to rant.

 ‘I don’t get it,’ Kris dropped on the bed, immediately feeling the weight of Tao jumping on after him. ‘I work so hard and nobody cares,’ laying down on his side, Kris watched Tao drop down beside him, staring at him expectantly, as always ready to listen. ‘I just feel so unappreciated, you know?’ He could see Tao’s eyes dropping, showing his empathy at Kris’ situation.

 Kris had always had a hard time at work, he was the curator for an art museum and while he did an amazing job his coworkers kept taking him for granted and gave him way more work than he could handle. He already had to do so much with designing exhibits, making sure they got set up properly, making sure everything was properly documented and could be stored quickly and easily found if needed. He even redid the whole organization system of the museum, the old system just didn’t work well enough, but he never got any recognition for it.

 ‘I just wish people noticed how hard I work,’ Kris closed his eyes, cracking an eye open as he felt Tao kiss his cheek. Kris’ lips pulled into a tired smile as he placed his hand on Tao’s head, lightly rubbing his head, enjoying the feeling of Tao’s silky hair under his fingertips. ‘Sometimes I wish you would just speak to me, I have a feeling you would say some interesting things.’ Kris smiled at Tao, watching as Tao grinned wolfishly, revealing his pearly white teeth. ‘I need to sleep, thanks for listening Tao,’ Kris smiled apologetically, his eyes closing, the weight of the day leaving them feeling like weights. ‘Goodnight,’ kissing Tao’s head he shuffled, turning on his other side, reaching out towards the light he pulled the string for the lamp down, sending the room into darkness. Kris smiled, feeling Tao burrow into his back immediately.

 Tao was afraid of the dark, so early on Kris installed a night light in the corner of the room, and despite the glow it cast Tao still found the need to cuddle Kris, and so he did. And Kris never complained, he never would, he enjoyed Tao cuddling him just as much as Tao did.

 ‘Come on, Tao,’ Kris opened the front door, watching Tao walk out in front of him. ‘Follow me,’ Kris walked down the street, knowing Tao was following him, Tao always followed him, without fail. Kris smiled hearing the remarks of the people around him, he always felt his chest swell in pride when people remarked on Tao’s looks. He loved them, he thought Tao was absolutely beautiful and he was proud when he heard other people agree with him, because it meant that others could see some of what he loved so much about Tao. But today it was bittersweet, because today was the last day Kris would ever see Tao, if they ever met again, they would be strangers.

 Kris could feel Tao nudge, his hand, asking for attention, Kris blinked, trying to ease the burning in his eyes. He could immediately see the concern flash in Tao’s eyes. ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,’ Kris patted Tao’s bottom, encouraging him to keep walking. ‘Come on, we don’t have all day,’ Kris watched as Tao started to walk forwards, his body was swaying as he walked, making him look confident, but Kris knew the truth, he knew Tao was hurt inside. He knew nobody else could see the scars he could. He knew the last thing he wanted to do was give him up. Kris stopped at the bench at the park sitting down as he checked his watch.

 ‘Yo! Kris!’ Kris looked up to see Luhan striding towards him, Luhan was enviable, he was extremely fashionable without trying, his black glasses hung on his face, making his puffed cheeks look more defined and manly. His plain white shirt was a perfect contrast with his black and white checkered shirt that hung loosely over top, making his body shaped by years of soccer and sports stand out. Kris felt his heart drop when Tao greeted Luhan with boundless energy, he had almost hoped that Tao would refuse to leave his side, but he knew it was just wishful thinking. Tao was over him like he should be over Tao.

 ‘Good to see you again, Luhan,’ Kris smiled at his longtime friend clapping his on the back.

 ‘You’re really doing this, huh?’

 ‘Tao will be more happy with you, and that’s all that matters,’ Kris lowered his head, trying to hide his bloated eyes.

 ‘You could always take him with you.’

 ‘You know they won’t let me,’ Kris dropped his hand on Tao’s head, ruffling the boys hair one last time. ‘It’s best to do this quickly,’ Kris planted a final kiss on Tao’s head before sighing and hugging his friend goodbye. ‘I’ll move back when I can,’ Kris gulped, trying to force down the emotions that choked his words.

 ‘Keep in contact,’ Luhan sighed and took his sunglasses off, his eyes were just as red as Kris. ‘I’ll miss you.’

 ‘I know,’ it was hard losing close friends, Luhan was like an older brother to him, he had guided him through life when he needed help. So it was only fitting that his constant companion went into Luhan’s capable hands. ‘Tao,’ Kris watched as Tao stared up at him, his large brown eyes were just as captivating as the first time he saw them. ‘Don’t miss me too much,’ Kris closed his eyes, turning around as he walked away. Before Kris disappeared he heard him, for the first time since he had met him he heard something other than a whimper from Tao.

 Turning around Kris’ eyes widened in shock as Tao crashed into him, knocking him to the ground, Tao started covering his face in kisses, his hot breath tickling Kris’ nose. ‘Tao! Stop! Tao!’ Kris pushed him off, wiping his face clean as his lips pulled into a bitter smile. Tao smiled at him, in his own special way before he barked, ‘I know,’ Kris ruffled Tao’s hair, the sound of his taxi honking gained his attention. ‘I know boy, I’ll miss you too, but you know this, I can’t take you with me. You don’t like planes and the only place I could get doesn’t accept dogs.’

 Kris pushed himself off the ground, before hooking the leash on Tao’s collar. ‘Be careful with him Luhan, he’s really strong,’ Kris handed Luhan the leash and walked away from his companion, the only one who had understood him in years. Kris opened the door of his taxi and got in, Kris watched Luhan and Tao get farther away. He would miss Luhan a lot, but not as much as he would miss Tao, after all, dogs were a mans best friend.