A/N: Before we begin I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all 200+ of my subscribers and even if you haven’t subscribed I still love you just for reading this far. You all bring me so much joy and this fic would be nothing if no one was reading. That being said…

This chapter is long. Well, I guess longer than the others. And I’m sorry for that but a lot happens and I didn’t want to break it up.

Take a deep breath *inhale* ……and begin  *exhale*

- <3 CQ

His body remained numb hours after Baekhyun disappeared from his sight. The slighter man had told him to go home, yet he remained glued where he stood. He mindlessly trudged until he stood in front of that pristine white house. There was no movement in the windows or from the door and the eeriness sent a shiver from his toes to the hairs on his head.

Uselessly Chanyeol checked his phone for messages before dialing the number. The ringing went straight to voicemail but he should have known better than to think Baekhyun’s parents would let him keep his phone.

He curled the electronic device in his fist and fury washed over him unlike anything he’d ever known. He couldn’t understand. The irony made him laugh bitterly aloud. He couldn’t understand how people could be so….not understanding.

As darkness descended over the neighborhood, Chanyeol stood from the curb, dusting dirt from his pants. He’d do what Baekhyun had said, he would go home and give the smaller man’s insistence the benefit of the doubt.

But if by tomorrow he still had no word…he would be back. And this time he wouldn’t be leaving alone.

When he returned home his roommate was sprawled out on the couch watching TV. Barely acknowledging Sehun’s greeting he sighed and shoved his roommate’s feet off the couch, talking their place on the opposite end.

Sehun huffed indignantly, “Well someone’s in a mood. Weren’t you just happy to be –ew gross don’t make me say it- engaged like a couple hours ago? Speaking of, where have you been? I thought you were dropping him off and coming back.”

“Yeah well dropping him off got a lot more complicated than it was supposed to,” he snorted, folding his arms across his chest.

He grinned impishly, “Chanyeol, I swear to god if you tell me it’s because you guys got distracted ing or something-“

“His mom saw us.” Chanyeol said grimly.

Sehun’s smile faltered. “But…she’s seen you guys together before. Don’t tell me she saw you…together?”

“She saw us kiss.”

“Oh…” his eyes widened and he slumped back against the couch. “OH. , Chanyeol.”

“I know. You don’t have to tell me twice. That of a woman dragged him off and he told me to go home.”

“You’re not actually that big of a to just leave him there, right?”

“Obviously not. I’m going back to get him tomorrow.” He turned towards his roommate, face stony, “And Sehun?”

“Yeah?”

“I wouldn’t ask this of you if I wasn’t one hundred percent serious, but you know you’re my best friend, right?”

He scoffed, “Obviously. Now what do you want?”

“What do you think about having a third roommate?”

Sehun laughed a little now. “Please. We basically already have a third roommate. I almost asked him to pay rent the other day since he comes over so mu-“

“Sehun, I’m serious.”

He was grave too. “So am I. If it were anyone else but him I would be skeptical. But I like him too, Chanyeol, believe it or not. I expect no less than Baekhyun fully moved in by tomorrow.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile. “You know you’re the best, right?”

He waved his friend away, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t get sappy.” Chanyeol noticed the corners of his mouth turn up ever so slightly.

Chanyeol couldn’t sleep that night. He prayed his fears were untrue, that Baekhyun’s parents wouldn’t be cruel enough to actually hurt him. But the more he thought about it the more he realized he had no idea what they could be capable of when they were so blinded by anger.

He’d seen what they were like normally, and the thought of what they’d do to their own son when they found out he was gay…It was unimaginable.

Part of him hoped this whole thing had been a nightmare. His fear was overwhelming. Part of him was willing to take it all back, asking Baekhyun to marry him, telling him he loved him, everything he would take back if it meant Baekhyun would be safe.

But another part of him whispered something in his ear. To be safe doesn’t always mean to be happy. He never considered himself some valiant hero. He definitely wasn’t a savior. But he was definitely responsible for bringing Baekhyun out of his dark and sheltered world.

He had seen the way that sunlight hit Baekhyun’s face and when he smiled at the warmth Chanyeol knew he hadn’t been wrong. He knew sometimes even when you’re right you have to go through trials.

Dawn came for real and cracked through his window. He paced endlessly around his room until the sun was further in the sky. Checking his bedside clock he was startled to see that it was already past eight-thirty.

He eagerly clutched at his useless mobile and saw there were indeed no messages. He tried calling once for good measure but found the situation to be the same as yesterday.

That was all it took to strengthen his resolve. With long strides he burst forth from his room and almost tripped in surprise when he saw Sehun by the front door, lacing up his shoes.

“What are you doing up so early?”

“I couldn’t sleep and by the look of it you didn’t either. I was too worried you’d something up so I’m coming with you.” He returned to his laces.

Chanyeol gaped at him, “Are you sure?”

Sehun stood and opened the door, “Yes, dammit. Now let’s go rescue the princess.”

When they reached the neighborhood Sehun whistled through his teeth, “Damn. You told me he was rich but I thought you were exaggerating.”

Chanyeol sighed, “His dad owns one of those big steel companies that’s in the news all of the time.”

Sehun laughed hollowly, an indication that he was nervous. “Compared to these people we’re practically from the other ing side of the tracks.”

They stopped in front of the pristine house and its gate and Chanyeol in a deep breath. It was closed but it wasn’t locked and with trembling fingers he unlatched the handle. Sehun wasted no time, however, in dramatically kicking the gate open, grinning with pleasure as it slammed back into the wall and marred the white surface.

He shrugged when Chanyeol stared at him, “If we’re here to steal we might as well some up too.”

The resounding clang of the metal rang long through the still air of the morning and Chanyeol saw both simultaneous movement from Baekhyun’s window and the downstairs living room.

He waited with baited breath as the curtains revealed Baekhyun’s startled eyes. But Chanyeol was even more startled when Baekhyun’s face broke into a huge grin.

“Well he looks happy to you see…But they don’t.”

He looked past Sehun’s pointed finger to Baekhyun’s parents standing disbelieving in the doorway. His dad looked ripe with burning anger and his mother gaped openly.

“I’m here to take Baekhyun home,” he said resolutely. Sehun stood square at his side, hands folded intimidatingly across his chest.

His mother was the first to speak. She shrieked, “You have the nerve to show your face here!? We don’t want your kind-“

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun shouted, interrupting the intense staring between the four on the ground.

He whipped his head up just in time to see Baekhyun popping the screen out of his window on the second floor and pulling it into his room.

“Catch!” he yelled and scrambling was all Chanyeol could do to catch the soft (but full) duffel bag that the smaller man tossed out the window. He grunted as it hit him.

Baekhyun’s mother sprung forward of the steps to look up at her son. “What are you doing!?”

There was no response but scraping and scuffling on the other end. Moments later Baekhyun was at the top of the staircase bounding down them two at a time. Baekhyun’s dad moved to stop him but the momentum was too much for him to grab and Baekhyun flung himself out the door.

Chanyeol tossed the duffel hurriedly to Sehun and caught Baekhyun as he threw himself into his arms. The two clung to each other in a tight embrace, Baekhyun’s arms around Chanyeol’s neck and Chanyeol’s hands running through those soft black curls.

He pulled back to stare at the face in front of him and noticed with horror that a purple and yellow bruise had made its way over Baekhyun’s left eye, the swelling closing it shut. With a shaky hand he touched it gingerly and noticed as Baekhyun flinched at the soft contact.

Chanyeol’s head whipped up menacingly at the two, “Who did this?” he growled.

Sehun’s mouth popped open when he noticed the bruise, but Baekhyun held Chanyeol even tighter, “Chanyeol…it’s okay. Ignore it.”

“Okay!?” he hissed. “This, Baekhyun, this is beyond not okay! Who did this?” he yelled this time taking a step forward.

“Chanyeol, stop! We can talk about it later!” his arms encircled Chanyeol’s waist and he was pulled to a halt.

There was shrieking by his mother and Baekhyun’s father moved toward them menacingly, hands outstretched. Sehun jumped in front of the two in defense and blocked his advance.

“Chanyeol!” His roommate yelled. “Snap out of it! Let’s just go!”

Chanyeol reluctantly peeled Baekhyun’s hands from his waist but held one of them in his own instead. He would put the bruise on the back burner…for now. “Baekhyun, come with me.”

Baekhyun suddenly flicked his forehead causing him to flinch back in shock. “Dummy, what do you think the bag is for?” He smiled slightly, but then he turned back to his parents.

“What do you think you’re doing?” his father spat.

“I’ve made my choice.”

“You’ve chosen to forsake everything I’ve given you…everything I’ve taught you, to live like…this?”

“I’ve chosen to be happy. You’re wrong if you think it has to be one or the other. Who I love and what kind of person I am have nothing to do with each other.”

“You’re disgusting,” his mother wailed. She was crying now and Baekhyun reeled away from her, stung. He grasped Chanyeol’s hand tightly, searching for strength. “This isn’t my boy. This isn’t the son I raised! How did you come to be this way!?”

“I’ve always been this way!” he pleaded, eyes glassy. “You’ve never looked at me! For the past 10 years of my life neither of you have looked at me! You were my parents! You were supposed to love me no matter what. But instead you took away everything I loved, everything I am, and you made it disgusting! ...But it doesn’t matter anymore…I’ve found someone who truly loves me. For all that I am he loves me. I-“

“You would dare call this love!?” his father spat. “This,” he gestured between him and Chanyeol, “this is not love! This is not right!”

Unexpectedly, Sehun stepped in. Shifting the duffel into one arm he used his free hand to stick a bony finger in Baekhyun’s father’s chest. “If you think that this isn’t love then you’re the ones who aren’t right in the head!” Baekhyun’s father was taken aback and shuffled uncomfortably under the harsh gaze. “I’ve been watching these idiots for months and if this isn’t the realist love I’ve ever seen I’ll be damned! Other people who have ing normal relationships should be ing ashamed! These two respect each other, and ing love each other more than anyone I’ve ever seen! It’s ing better than anything I’ve seen from you two. I’ve only been here for ten ing minutes and I know you don’t love your son as much as Chanyeol does.”

He sputtered unused to such profanities, “M-my son…” He faltered and glared harshly, pushing away the opposing hand. His wife clutched to his arm and he turned to Baekhyun. “Is this it then? Is this what you want of your life?”

Baekhyun answered surely but a few tears escaped down his pale cheeks. He knew the end was coming. “This is what I want. I want to be with Chanyeol. But that doesn’t mean you have to be out of my life. I’ll still be your son. I-“

“I have no son.”

Baekhyun’s father turned his back on the group and Baekhyun stood frozen in place. Wordlessly he trembled and Chanyeol pushed him lightly into Sehun’s arms.

“Sehun, take him outside.”

Sehun nodded, face pale and taking one last look at the parental duo shrugged Baekhyun under his arm, leading him out the front gate.

When they were gone Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s father’s shoulder, roughly spinning him to face him. He grabbed his collar and held it up. Husband and wife collectively gasped and he swatted away Chanyeol’s hand.

“Get your hands off me you-!”

“You’re the disgusting ones.” Chanyeol spat and they each cringed back. His face was red with the anger he’d been holding in. But now that Baekhyun was there he didn’t have to hold back anymore. He hadn’t wanted Baekhyun to see this on any accounts, his fury and his parent’s smallness under it.

“The fact that you two can throw him away so easily proves you don’t understand what a ing blessing your son is! No. That’s not quite right. You’re not throwing him away. Baekhyun is throwing you away. Because god knows that he deserves better than you and you don’t deserve someone like him. The fact that he grew up the way he did in this place is a miracle and you two are too ing stupid and closed-minded to appreciate it. No matter what you said to him, no matter how disgusting you made him feel he loved you regardless because that’s what love is. It’s not based on who you love but how you love them.”

Seeing the briefly stunned but hard-set expressions on their faces he sighed, “I can see I’m wasting my breath. People like you will never understand.” He ran a hand through his hair, finally feeling the effects of sleepless night and an emotional morning. “Look, to be frank, I hate you.”

They opened their mouths to snap back at him but a piercing glare silenced them.

“I hate you, and you hate me. But Baekhyun loves both of us. I know for a fact that more than anything he wants us all to be together, but I know the reality. You don’t want anything to do with us and I don’t want anything to do with you either. But, if you have any shred of love for your child, maybe someday you can come and bow at his feet and apologize for everything you’ve done. Maybe if you do that I’ll let you see him again.”

His mother shrieked from behind her husband, “You dare suggest we can’t even see our own son!?”

But her husband held her back, “Stop. Enough of this. Let’s go inside.”

“You’re really going to do this?” asked Chanyeol, still incredulous, but mocking. “You’re going to abandon your son, just because he fell in love with a man?”

He turned his head back slowly. “A man who loves another man is no man. And a son who chooses that life is no son of mine.”

He walked inside the open doors of that white house. Chanyeol couldn’t help but notice Baekhyun’s mom, furtively glancing between Chanyeol and the front gate, before darting inside the house, and shutting the door. He tried not to notice the subtle guilt in her eyes and quickly shook his head. Then his thoughts turned to the man waiting for him.

“Baekhyun.,” he whispered and turned towards the stree