The night is cold and quiet. Minseok wakes up, for no apparent reason. He turns on his side to see Luhan, soft silhouette rising and falling, as he snores almost inaudibly. Minseok cannot keep away the smile that creeps up on his face in spite of being half-asleep. It has been a long time since he's been home before his husband falls asleep. He scoots closer and drapes an arm over Luhan, who begins to fidget a little at the weight when he hears choked off sniffles and whimpers. They are too soft for Minseok to presume that they are the reason why he is wide awake now. He sits up in bed, straining his ears. Jostled by the movement, Luhan wakes up too.

"What happened?" He asks groggily. The sobs are louder now. "Sehun?"

Minseok is already out of bed and bolting out the bedroom door. He pushes open the door of his son's room, taking in the curled up form on the bed, shaking with stifled sobs.

"Sehun?" He sits on the edge of the bed and puts a hand on what he thinks is Sehun's shoulder.

Almost immediately, the eleven year old gets up, flips aside the blankets covering his face and cries loudly at the sight of his father.

"A-Ap-Appa-a", his voice breaks as he dissolves into louder sobs.

Minseok puts his arms around Sehun and hugs him tightly. Luhan sits beside them, carding a hand through Sehun's hair and over his back, trying to calm him down.

"What happened, Sehunnie?" Luhan asks softly. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Sehun manages to nod his head against Minseok's chest, hands gripping the sides of his shirt. He hiccups a little before sobbing loudly again.

Minseok tightens his arms around his son and rocks a little to soothe him. He exchanges a worried glance with Luhan. Of course Sehun has had his fair share of nightmares in the past, but he has never cried so much or so horribly. He has woken up screaming about monsters and has run to their room shouting about how they had caught him cheating while playing games and now were chasing him down. This time, obviously, it was not just monsters.

"Sehunnie", Luhan begins, after Sehun's sobs have somewhat subsided, leaving behind occasional sniffles and whimpers. "Sehunnie, do you want to talk about it?"

"No", Sehun mutters, his eyes downcast.

Minseok sighs. He picks him up and sets him down on his lap.

"Come on, Sehunnie", he coaxes gently. "You'll feel better after you talk about it."

Sehun's lower lip trembles; a few tears escape his eyes. Luhan wipes them carefully with his sleeve and cups his face.

"Was it the monsters again?" He asks.

Sehun shakes his head.

"Ghosts? Vampires? Any other scary people?"

He shakes his head again.

"Did something bad happen to you?"

He shakes his head hesitantly again, but a couple of tears stream down his face.

"Did something bad happen to someone else?"

Sehun nods his head and opens his mouth to say something but all that comes out is a strangled sob as tears begin streaming again.

"Was it Appa or Baba?" Minseok asks.

"Y-you-you-" Sehun tries to say between hiccups.

Minseok knows now. Nightmares that had always plagued him had not spared his son.

"Did Appa die Sehunnie?" He whispers, wiping tears.

Sehun just sobs louder and buries himself in Minseok's chest again. Minseok feels his heart break a little.

"It's okay, Sehunnie", Luhan comforts him. "It's okay. Nothing’s happened to Appa. He's perfectly fine, see? He's ok. Shh. Don't cry now. Appa's ok. Shh. Nothing's going to happen to him, ok? Everything's fine. Everything's alright."

Luhan keeps muttering comforting words until slowly, Sehun’s cries fade away. He sits up, wipes snot on his own sleeve and looks at Minseok, then looks away.

"I'm fine, Sehun-ah", Minseok smiles at him. He kisses Sehun's forehead. "Let's go back to sleep now, alright?"

Sehun hesitates, but gets on the bed.

"Do you want to sleep with us?" Luhan asks.

"No... Can you stay here till I fall asleep?"

Luhan tucks him in and kisses him softly. "Sleep. We'll be here."

He keeps running a hand over his head soothingly, just like how Sehun likes it. But even after ten minutes when Sehun is still not asleep and keeps opening his eyes to make sure both his fathers are still there, Minseok says,"Alright, come on. You're sleeping with us."

"No!" Sehun protests with a pout. "None of my friends sleep with their parents!"

"It's only for tonight, Sehunnie", Minseok replies, chuckling.

Sehun chews his lip, contemplating. "You can't tell anyone, ok?" He extends a pinky.

"I promise." Minseok curls his own pinky around his son’s smaller one and smiles.

"Okay."

Sehun scrambles off the bed and by the time Minseok and Luhan reach their room, he has already tucked himself in.

"Appa on my left and Baba on my right", he orders.

Luhan chuckles. "Why am I on your right?"

"Because I turn to my left side a lot while I'm asleep and I want to spend more time with Appa since he's not around so much these days."

Minseok swallows, guilt creeping up on him. "Sehun-ah, I'm sorry I don't spend much time at home."

"It's okay, Appa. I know you're busy some times. We'll go to the amusement park when you have time someday."

"We will. I promise."

Sehun turns over (to his left) and promptly falls asleep by the time Minseok and Luhan make themselves comfortable. Minseok lies still on the bed, staring at the ceiling for some time.

"Lu?"

"Hmm?"

"I'll try to come home early, ok?"

Luhan looks at him and smiles. "Hey, it's alright. I know you're a little busy. Even Sehun knows. This'll pass right?"

Minseok hums. "Yeah, there are just some problems that we're trying to fix." He pauses then continues, “Do you know, I used to have such nightmares all the time? My dad used to roam all over the place for work. He was never home most of the times. I never resented him for it though. I just feel a little hurt right now, I guess."

Luhan props himself up on one arm and smiles again. "You know, you need to stop thinking so much."

"I know." Minseok smiles back, stretches to peck Luhan's lips and snuggles back into the blanket.

"Good night, Lu."

"Good night. Good night, Sehunnie," Luhan whispers back, even though Sehun's asleep.

Minseok falls asleep with a smile on his face.

A/N: My first fanfic! Lol, is anybody even reading this...