iii. Rainy Nights.

     The night was dark and stormy, thunder and lightning taking turns ruling the skies. Rain heavily beating against the windows drowned out the sounds of tiny feet pitter-pattering down the long corridor, leading up to the huge bedroom doors at the end of them. The bedroom door creaked open a sliver, just enough to allow the small, scared body to sneak quietly inside.

     The woman on the bed slowly roused from her dreams hearing the door creak open, voice hoarse from sleep. “What’s wrong baby? Did you have a nightmare again?”

     She supported her head against the backboard, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dark setting around her, to see her son standing wordlessly at the doorway. Another round of heavy thunder rumbled loudly, and she could see him flinch from where he stood.

     “It’s really noisy outside. T-The storm is loud, and …” A seven year old Sehun mumbled softly, letting his sentence trail off with a small, pitiful sniffle.

     His mother sighed out looking over at her son. He was embarrassed to admit he was afraid, again. It had been a couple of months since they moved into their new house and left their own life behind, but Sehun had trouble letting go of the past. He remained the same as before; quiet, always blinking back tears, almost emotionless.

     She sighed again before speaking up, “Come up and here sleep with me sweetie.”

     She patted to the empty space beside her, and Sehun ran over, scrambling up the sides of the bed before finally nuzzling deep into her side.

     “Is was another bad dream, huh?” She asked, comfortingly her son’s hair. Sehun let out a little grunt in response, bottom lip quivering.

     “W-When is Luhan coming back? I … I can’t sleep without him,” Sehun sniveled, wiping way his tears in her shirt.

     “Sehun, you’ve already asked me three times. He just went to visit some family members back in China. He’ll be back soon.” She said, going back to lie down. Sehun followed her, curling up at her side. His tears were coming to a halt, and the warmth radiating from his mother made him rather sleepy.

     The rain outside died down, the rumble of the storm going along with it, until there was only the sound of residual dripping of the rain from outside.

     “I don’t want it to happen again.” Sehun spoke softly from his mother’s side, so softly it was barely a whisper. “What if he’s like dad? What if it happens all over again? What if L-Luhan doesn’t come back? I don’t want that to happen. I-I don’t …”

     His mother hushed him to keep him quiet.

     “It won’t happen again Sehun. We’re safe this time.” Sehun’s mother told him sweetly. She lied to him without realizing it.

     Luhan impatiently stared out of the plane’s window, eyes darting around as the beautiful scenery got farther and farther away from him. A smile slowly made its way onto his face. The farther he got from China, the closer he was back into Sehun’s arms. He sighed contently, grabbing the attention of his father.

     His father let out a small chuckle, looking over at him and scuffing his hair around childishly, “What’re you thinking about little squirt?”

     Luhan’s expression immediately dropped. He continued to gaze out of the window, nervously fiddling with two, small metal bracelets on his wrist. 

     His father frowned, speaking up again, “Luhan, we’ve talked about responding when I ask questions already, yes? What did I tell you about that? 

     Luhan looked down at the bracelets on his wrist, ignoring him again.

     “Luhan,” His father’s voice dropped to a darker tone. “I just want to have a regular conversation, like a happy family, a normal father and son. Now, let’s start again. What are you thinking about?”

     “I want to be back home with Sehun and Ms. Oh.” Luhan replied back with a dead tone, drawing a hiss out of his father.

     “We’ll talk about this when we get home then.” Luhan’s father almost growled out.

     They fell back into silence. Luhan missed home. He missed Sehun’s warmth, and the way that he laughed, and Ms. Oh’s home cooked meals and being in his own bed. He missed being with his real family, but home was always so far away.

     The sun finally made its way to the horizon, peeking up behind the dark clouds it had been hiding behind. Early morning had arrived. Sehun lay wide-eyed in bed, clinging to his sleeping mother’s side. Long nightmare filled nights and thoughts Luhan had kept him up for the third night in a row. 

     He groggily rubbed at the dark circles around his eyes, curling himself up further in the bed sheets. His mind was beginning to jumble the way it always did when Luhan had been away from him for too long, and jumbled thoughts came along with it. 

     What if Luhan never comes back? What if he leaves me here? Why am I so unhappy?

     His thoughts were immediately broken as a familiar voice echoed rang through the house. “S-Sehun! Sehunnie?” Luhan’s voice.

     Sehun scrambled out of bed as fast as his weary legs could carry him, running down the stairs and throwing himself at his older stepbrother. They tightly embraced each other.

     “Luhan, you’re back!” Sehun said with a smile on his face, the one Luhan had missed so much. Luhan swung him around full circle, cherishing every tiny squeal and giggle it drew out of Sehun. They didn’t pay any attention to their father who stood above them.

     “Sehun, I missed you so much! I had a horrible time in China! I cried the entire way there, and then I had really bad nightmares about you, t-they were so bad I couldn’t even sleep …” Luhan spoke shakily into the nook of Sehun’s neck. 

     “Okay champ, slow down a bit.” Luhan’s dad told him as he softly patted his shoulder.

     Sehun caught a quick glimpse of Luhan’s face. He looked horrible; hair sticking out wildly on every angle, dried tears on his cheeks, darkly circled, desperately looking eyes looking back at him, not that Sehun looked much better.

     Luhan sighed out in relief, “Sehun, I missed you so much.” He was trembling; Sehun could feel it from where he held him in his arms.

     Sehun pulled back and lovingly nuzzled against his cheek, “I missed you too.”

     Ms. Oh sauntered down the stairs a couple moments later, letting out a long, hearty laugh as she saw Luhan, who was now pressing loving kisses all of Sehun’s cheeks.

     “I think that’s enough for now. You both need some rest, right?” She cooed, stooping down and kisses their foreheads. Sehun yawned in affirmation.

     “Go upstairs and take a nap then. You can catch up later, alright?” She spoke with a smile as she nudged them upstairs, watching as they happily walked off hand-in-hand.

     “They’re so cute when they’re together,” She said, waltzing over to her husband’s side, “I love it. Aren’t they adorable?”

     With a small grunt in response, Luhan’s father watched them with a nervous smile and hateful eyes.

Lunchtime rolled around quicker then expected. Luhan sat proudly at the table talking animatedly talking about his personal records of China with dramatic hand gestures and bright eyes, un-sparing of any detail. Everyone was happy, everyone expect for Luhan’s dad, mind clouded with consuming thoughts.

“Sehun, where’d you get that?” Luhan’s dad finally spoke up for the first time since lunch had began, interrupting Luhan’s airport stories. His eyes were fixated on the metal jewelry placed neatly around his wrist.

“Oh,” Sehun shyly looked down at his bracelet. “Luhan gave it to me. He said that he got one from China for me.” He mumbled quietly through a mouth of kimchi spaghetti.

“O-Oh?” the man replied, the corners of his mouth twitching itself into somewhat of a smile and turning to his son. “But Luhan, didn’t you say it was for someone … special? I thought you were talking about a girl at your school? Maybe that pretty one with the pigtails. I think her name was Yoona?”

“Papa,” Luhan interrupted, “Sehun is my special person. Sehun’s prettier any girl at my school!” He told his father proudly, protectively drapping his arm around the shier boy’s waist.

Luhan’s dad silently watched as Sehun mumbled a weak response, cheeks turning red.

“Awh, such a cute couple!” Ms. Oh playfully spoke with a joyful laugh, nudging her husband’s arm. “They’re so adorable! Right honey?” She added, choosing to ignore the thunderous look on his face. 

He kept quiet.

After dinner, he called Sehun over to speak to him privately.                                                                  

“Luhan, it hurts. Luhan, I’m not happy. Luhan, you promised me. You promised. Please.”

Luhan woke up from his sleep with a sharp gasp, rocketing up from his place in his bed. He had a nightmare, the same one he always had. A flashback of his dead mother, blood, and Sehun; it was always came back to Sehun.

He reached to his stepbrother who was asleep beside him. He needed his comfort.

“Se-Sehun. Sehun, wake up.” Luhan whispered softly, lightly tapping his shoulder.

Luhan’s teary eyes got adjusted to the darkness of the room, and he saw Sehun’s face. Smooth as porcelain, rosy cheeks, and blemished. New purple bruises painfully covered portions of his collarbone. Sehun stirred awake slowly, rubbing tiredly at his eyes before looking up into Luhan’s shocked face. He spoke to him slowly, “Luhan? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”                                                                                                                                   

“You’re hurt. S-Sehun, how did you …” Luhan stuttered out, grazing his fingers against the areas, before the realization hit him. Bruises like these were all too familiar to him. He remembered when they covered his mother’s arms like sleeves when she held him tightly and told him to close his eyes. “Why did he …?”

“It’s fine.” Sehun said, letting out a sheepish smile. He intertwined his fingers with Luhan. “You’ll protect me. You'll keep me safe.”

Luhan nodded, keeping quiet, but Sehun was quick to catch the dark look storming in his eyes.

“Luhan, promise me something?” Sehun mumbled, leaning over to his ear.

“Yeah Sehun? What it is?” Luhan replied, dark look still looming in his eyes.

Sehun pulled back, looking dead into Luhan’s eyes with an serious expression on his face. “Please don’t get rid of him like you got rid of my dad. I don’t want anymore of that stuff. Promise?”

Luhan looked down at where their fingers were intertwined and kept quiet, refusing to look up into Sehun’s eyes. “But he hurt you. He’s making you unhappy. I promised that I’d keep you happy.”

Sehun spoke again, “I know, but please. Please don’t Luhan. Promise me.”

Luhan glanced up into Sehun’s soft looking eyes, and sighed in defeat. “I promise you. I promise I won’t get rid of him.”

Happy with his response, Sehun pressed a small kiss to his cheek and tossed himself back down into his bed with Luhan in his arms and a huge grin on his face.

“Okay! You promised. Now, let’s get back to bed.”

Luhan couldn’t sleep. Sehun was closely nestled in the nook of his chest, and he watched him sleeping form. His breathing was slow and he radiated the same warmth his own mother once had. It calmed him, but not enough to make him drowsy. His mind was filled with the thoughts of his father.

He stealthily wormed his way out of Sehun’s grasp, and slipped down off of the bed and onto the floor. He quickly made his way out of the room, walking silently down the steps, until he reached the kitchen. Quietly reaching across the countertop, he searched for what he wanted. It wasn’t long until he found what he was looking for; the knife rack. Pleased with his findings, he climbed back up the stairs.

He glanced into the room Sehun was asleep in, reassuring his safety, before trotting down the hall to his parent’s bedrooms.

Pushing the door open quietly with extra care, he looked over the room to see Ms. Oh soundly sleeping beside his target, his father.

Creeping up to his father’s side of the bed, face expressionless, he raised the knife above his head. He almost laughed thinking about it. It was all too easy. A simple swipe across with the edge of his blade, and his father would be dead and gone, and Sehun would be happy again.

But there was feeling pounding in his chest, the one emotion he couldn’t stand to feel, guilt. All he could replay in his mind was his promise, the promise he had made with Sehun only a couple of hours ago looking into his innocent eyes.

“I don’t want anymore. Please Luhan. Promise me.”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he slowly brought the knife back down to his sides.

He couldn’t kill him. He couldn’t break his Sehun’s trust, he promised, and Luhan never broke his promises, not even for himself, not even for Sehun.

Every day Luhan would wake up beside Sehun, his skin would be tainted by another bruise covering his small body.

Sehun tried to hide them the best that he could, but Luhan always saw them. They were always right there, peeking out under his layers of clothing, taunting him, reminding him that Sehun’s situation.

Luhan had tried to say something, but his father was smarter than that. Every time he opened his mouth meant another bruise on Sehun.

Ms. Oh had already headed off to her night at the hospital, and left them alone for another night. Luhan had pleaded, begged, did everything he could to make her stay.

“It’s okay Lulu,” she laughed, patting her head in reassurance, “It’ll only be a couple hours. I’ll be back in the morning.” She said every night before heading off and leaving a teary eyed Luhan alone to face his father.

Sitting by his father’s bedrooms door, patiently waiting for Sehun and his father to finish their conversation, he sometimes pretended he couldn’t hear anything, and that the crying at the shouting were all in his head.

His father’s voice echoed off of the walls, a strained yelling he hadn’t heard since his mother was still alive. For the first time in a long time, Luhan was scared.

“Don’t you dare try to change Luhan! He isn’t like you! He’ll never be like you!”

Sehun was the same as always, indifferent. He wasn’t fazed by the harsh words, and he was already numb to pain. He never shed tears over bruises. All he needed to do was to think of his real source of happiness.

He closed his eyes after getting hit after hit, and thought of it. Luhan.

“Luhan will protect me. Everything is fine. I’ll be alright.”

The nights were just as rainy as the past ones, but neither of the two stepbrothers were afraid when they had each other. The soft drizzle of the rain and safe, reassuring arms of Luhan had immediately soothed Sehun asleep. Luhan lay wide-awake.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw bruises covering Sehun, scars ruining his skin, deep wounds that cut into him, and he thought it was his fault, he thought he was a coward.

Sehun awoke to the sounds of faint sniffling beside him. He groggily opened his eyes to see Luhan distressed face against his tear soaked pillow.

“Luhan? You’re crying?” Sehun innocently asked, reaching over and softly wiping the tears streaming down his face.

Luhan weakly batted his hand away form his face and promptly turned around. Sehun never cried when he got beat, his father never cried at his mother’s funeral. Luhan hated to be seen crying, it made him feel weak.

“I’m not crying,” Luhan lied.

With a pout, Sehun turned him around, pulling him a tight hug in hopes of stopping his tears. “Luhan, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Luhan only cried harder, letting out shaky sobs as he buried his face into Sehun’s neck.

“Luhan, what’s wrong?” he asked again, comfortingly rubbing the back of his neck.

There was a long moment of silence, the only noise being Luhan’s breathy crying, before it died down like the rain. Taking a shaky sigh, Luhan finally spoke up. “I can’t protect you from my dad. I make keep you happy anymore.”

“Luhan, I’m okay. You don’t have to cry about that.” Sehun solemnly spoke, lightly nuzzling his cheek with his own.

Luhan shook his head, speaking again. “You don’t understand. I can never protect anymore. I can’t protect you, I couldn’t even protect my mom.” 

Sehun tilted his head to the side. “Your mom?” he repeated. “What happened?”

Luhan had never mentioned his mother. Sehun had always assumed she had died in some kind of accident, it had always been a really sensitive topic for them to discuss, but he knew absolutely nothing about her.

Luhan pulled away from him. “Sehun, I need to tell you something.” Sehun nodded once in response.

“My dad’s … he’s not what he says he is.” Luhan whispered, voice deadly serious. “He always used to talk about these ‘accidents’ that kept happening in his workplace. Bad accidents. And sometimes, he’d get into these … moods. He hit my mom a lot. She was going to take me away, but he found out.”

“And?” His stepbrother coaxed him to go on.

“He took the kitchen knife, and he-” Luhan paused looking into Sehun’s innocent eyes. “He got rid of her. But he said it was an accident. Like his other accidents.”

Sehun’s expression dropped. “Luhan, that’s horrible. Why didn’t you tell anymore?”

Luhan paled as he spoke. “I’ve tried. It doesn’t work. He just gets rid of them. He’ll get rid of you. And … I’m scared.” He admitted, tears welling back up in his eyes.

Sehun sighed again, this time, with a smile. He reached up and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before replying to him sweetly. “Luhan, I’m happy as long as I have you. It’ll be okay. Don’t cry anymore.”

Luhan blinked away the last of his tears. “Promise?” he sniffled.

“I promise.” Sehun said with confidence. “Let’s sleep now.”

With a small smile, they both shuffled back underneath the sheets of the bed, and slept soundly until morning.

The next morning, Sehun decided not to hide himself anymore. His bruises were shown off for the entire world to see.

His mother had seen them first, when she was serving them breakfast at the kitchen table and said her morning hellos. Her eyes only lingered over them for a moment. She knew where they were from, but she swallowed the reality of the situation.

Her entire life she had been struggling; struggling with an abusive husband, struggling to raise a child of her own. It wasn’t until she had met Luhan’s father that she began to feel again, so she kept quiet. She couldn’t walk away from her new husband; she would not sacrifice her happiness again.

Luhan was tired from a long night of horrific dreams. His unfocused eyes shifted back and forth between Sehun and his new bruise. He didn’t speak to anymore that morning expect for Sehun.

Dinner that night was quiet. The only noises heard were the scraping of cutlery against the plates, and the soft sounds of the rain outside.

Sehun had his chair pressed up right beside Luhan’s, no space between them. From underneath the table, they nervously tightly held onto each other’s hands, away from their parent’s eyes. Luhan looked down at his meal with bored eyes.

Ms. Oh couldn’t feel the tension that was thick in the air. With a cheery voice, she tried starting a conversation. “Luhan, honey, did anything interesting happen at school today? Did you learn anything new?”

“No.” Luhan blandly answered, not looking up from his plate.

Silence fell on them.

Luhan swallowed the growing lump in his throat, and spoke up quietly. “Dad, why are you hurting Sehun?”

There was a small chuckle from his father, the first noise he had made the entire night. “What are you talking about?” his father asked him, darkness lingering in his eyes.

Luhan almost sneered. “Why are you hurting him?”

His father plastered a fake smile on his face, and answered with certain uneasiness. “Luhan, that’s a pretty bold accusation, don’t you think?”

“Don’t hurt him anymore.” Luhan replied, ignoring his father’s remarks. "Don’t do anything to him.”

The man kept up his fake persona. “Luhan, do we need to have another conversation about your attitude? Maybe I need to schedule you for another doctor’s appointment?”

Luhan abruptly stood up from his spot at the table, keeping Sehun in his tow. “We’re going upstairs now.”

“Luhan, you didn’t finish your meal. I would prefer if you cut this out and sit down with the rest of your family.” His father’s smile finally faded, and he spoke darkly, motioning to the table.

“No. We’re going upstairs. I don’t want to spend anymore time with you.” Luhan bluntly retorted, pulling Sehun closer towards him. Luhan could feel Sehun’s hands tremble.

“Luhan.” His father’s voice dropped to a frighteningly deep tone. “Sit down and have dinner. Now.”

The emptiness returned to Luhan eyes, blank expression staring into his father’s angry face. “What are you going to do? Hit me?”

His father finally exploded. He rocketed up from his chair, slamming his hand down onto the table. “Luhan, sit down right now!”

Luhan’s glance flickered over to Sehun’s terrified expression, and he gave him a small squeeze of reassurance. Luhan attention returned back to his father.

“Dad, are you going to start hitting Ms. Oh like you hit mom?” Luhan asked, faking his innocence with a small tilt in his head.

His father paled. For the first time, Luhan saw a flicker of something in his eyes, fear. Luhan relished in it. 

“I remember back in China, you were always hitting her. One time, she got really hurt and we had to go to the hosptial. Do you remember that dad?” Luhan went on, amusement lacing his voice. 

Ms. Oh looked over at her husband with confusion painting her face. “Honey, what is he talking about? Is this another joke?”

“L-Luhan ...” his father stuttered, hands curling up into tight fists.

“It isn’t good for you to get angry dad. Isn’t that what the doctor told you?” Luhan said, blinking up at him with big, angelic eyes. 

With a frustrated sigh, his father rubbed at his temples before waving them away. “We’ll speak later. You’re both dismissed for the rest of the night.”

With a proud smile, Luhan lead Sehun away hand in hand. 

“I promised to keep you happy. I promised to keep you safe. I won’t break that promise.” 

---

a/n:

Like always, thanks to HappyPistachio for editing!

I might alter this chapter a bit sometime in the future- Was this even a good chapter? (*´I`*)" 

Whelp, I hope you enjoyed anyways~