(( A/N Hello! A couple things before I get to the update :0 This chapter may seem a little out of place as the focus is shifted away from Chanyeol a little at the end, which sets up for the chapter after which is Jongdae-focused. Do you guys have a preference on if that is part of this line or should I put it into the story arc called Fragmenting that is separate that's about Jongdae's past?

I promise both Fragmenting and the next chapter are important, but I also understand if you all are getting impatient with me and want the ChanTao to start a week sooner, but I'm a little worried that if I speed up the update by a week that I might run out of updates since I had to take a break from writing Waiting because of how much Fragmenting hurt to write.

So, preferences? If not then I'm gonna put the chapter in this line. ))

Chapter Thirteen
When Did it all Fall?
 

“So while I’m visiting my mom and sister, I have a checkup with the hospital,” Chanyeol said, leading the way back down the street after he finally gave the guitar back to the musician. “They’re probably going to give me a new prescription. Do you want me to give you the day, time and address so you can make sure I don’t do something with the pills?” He asked.

“I’m going to trust you this time,” Jongdae replied. “Don’t it up. And hopefully that friend of yours that I called will talk some sense into you while you’re visiting.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Chanyeol groaned at the memory, his nose scrunching up. “I swore Kyungsoo was going to break the speaker on my phone with how loud he yelled at me after that,” He grumbled.

“You obviously weren’t going to listen to me, I figured maybe he could knock some sense into, you since your phone had him in your most contacted section,” Jongdae replied and Chanyeol rubbed his side preemptively.

“He’s going to knock something lost in me,” He mumbled, stopping as they reached the store with the music box Jongdae had been staring at, the other not stopping until Chanyeol grabbed into is elbow. Jongdae tensed at the touch and turned to Chanyeol, starting to pull his arm back when he froze, attention falling onto the display window. He opened his mouth, Chanyeol cutting him off.

“Come on.”

“No.”

“Please? You looked like you really wanted-”

“Chanyeol, I said no,” Jongdae said in a low, even tone but he stopped trying to pull away. Chanyeol saw the other look past him to the display window, his shoulders tensing the way they had at the restaurant when Chanyeol had brought up Yifan and the music box.

“If you don’t buy it, I will, and I’ll find Yifan and give it to him, telling him it’s from you,” Chanyeol stated and Jongdae’s eyes flickered to his, expression darkening in the process. He opened his mouth again and Chanyeol tugged on his arm, silencing him again and the dark expression faded when he looked back to the music box in the window. His frame didn’t ease as he allowed Chanyeol to pull him into the store, silent as Chanyeol told the cashier what they wanted and Jongdae passed her money as the music box was rung up. Chanyeol offered thanks to her when it was obvious that Jongdae wasn’t going to, and he looked to the brunet who was starting at the now gift wrapped box as if it was going to bite him. Chanyeol noticed the line that was forming behind them and picked up the box, leading him back out of the store.

“Do I have to give it to him?” Chanyeol asked and Jongdae tried to glare at him, but the way he still was tense he looked more scared than angry. The emotion looked to strange on the other.

“No,” He said and Chanyeol held out the box to him. Jongdae stared at it for a moment before he opened the bad he had been carrying around, and Chanyeol placed the wrapped box inside.

“Why are you being so weird about getting this? I don’t see what the big deal is, I mean, you won’t even touch it,” Chanyeol said and Jongdae stated walking away. “I get that you and emotions can be like oil and water, but I don’t understand why you’re acting this way over a simple music box,” He said, following after the other. Jongdae stopped, turning to face him so fast that the Chanyeol almost walked into him.

“You honestly have no idea?” He asked and Chanyeol’s eyebrows knitted together.

“How… could I?” He asked frowning at the way the brunet’s eyes searched through his own. “You don’t tell me anything, and you don’t drop enough hints for me to try and put them together. If you want someone to know something, you make sure they know. And if you don’t want someone to know something, then they never will.” Jongdae stared at him for a few moments longer before he turned away from the black haired male who felt a lump forming in his throat as he followed after him, a silence falling between them.

~

A week later Chanyeol’s sister dropped him back off at the dorms, and he found Yifan outside his dorm door, knocking on it.

“You need something?” Chanyeol called as he walked down the hall towards the other who turned to him and a confused look crossed his face.

“Jongdae’s not… with you?” Yifan asked in response and Chanyeol frowned.

“Why would he be? I was with my family for the break,” He replied and Yifan stared at him for a moment before looking back to Chanyeol’s dorm door. “Did he… say he was with me or something?” Chanyeol tried and the other shook his head.

“No, I just thought… he would be. He usually says he was with you when I ask him about not answering my calls,” Yifan explained, pulling out his mobile and scrolling through the several messages he had sent to Jongdae. “He’s… probably just with someone else,” He said, his hand shaking a little as he closed out of the message line with Jongdae. Chanyeol shook his head, stepping closer to the elder as he stared down at the device.

“I honestly don’t think he is,” He said, as Yifan pocketed his mobile. “I know that he made a name for himself with that… but I haven’t seen him look twice at someone in months. And from what I’ve seen it isn’t like he’s really all that subtle about that sort of thing,” Chanyeol said and Yifan gave a halfhearted smile.

“You’re right. He’s not,” He replied, his tone soft. “He always knew how to get what he wanted, no matter what the cost was.”

“I would put my money on him being done with all that,” Chanyeol continued, and Yifan gave a small nod. “Hey, has he given you your present yet?” Chanyeol asked and Yifan looked up, pausing as if he wasn’t sure he had heard the other correctly.

“Present?”

“Yeah. We went shopping, and he got something. He acted really weird about it, so I assumed it was for you and that was why… since he has his, you know,  own way of having a relationship with you.” Yifan’s eyebrows came together to the point that wrinkles began to form on his forehead. “It was a music box, one that was shaped like a piano.” Chanyeol added, and Yifan’s face relaxed and his eyes widened.

“Today… Today’s the twenty-seventh.” He said slowly, which only confused Chanyeol further. Was it some kind of anniversary that Yifan had forgotten about?

“Yeah. Why?”

“I know where he is,” Yifan said, pulling out his mobile again. He selected Jongdae’s mobile from his contacts, hurrying past Chanyeol, who turned to watch him run down the hall.

“W-wait, what? Where?” He called after Yifan, but the other didn’t so much as look back.

~

Jongdae looked down at his mobile, selecting the ignore option before turning it to silent mode and looking back out the cab window. It was only a short few minutes later when the cab stopped outside a large iron gate and he paid the driver as he got out of the cab. He took a slow breath as he gripped the door to the cab tightly, letting it out before he closed the cab door and the cab drove off. He stared up at the large gate, his grip on the wrapped box in his hands tightened before he walked up to the gate and pushed it open, slipping inside.

The gravel crunched beneath his feet as he walked through the familiar path, and he stepped on the grass once he got to the row he needed, stopping seven stone markers in. He stared at the stone he stood before, his for several minutes before he stepped forward to place the box on top of it, his hand moving to trail over the name as he knelt down in front of it. He felt his eyes start to sting faintly and his vision soon blurred before he closed them, leaning forward to press his head against the stone.

“It feels like it’s been an eternity since you left,” He said, a tear trailing down his cheek as he pulled his head back, fingers tracing over the date carved into the stone.

May 6^th, 1994 – December 27^th, 2013

Jongdae shifted, turning to rest his back against the grave stone, leaning his head back as another tear trailed down his cheek and he took in a shaky breath, pulling his legs up to hug them to his chest, burying his face into his knees, his jeans quick to become damp.

“I miss you, Baekhyun.”

(( A/N when I sent this chapter to Angel to beta read over it, she came back with "Have I ever told you that I hate you?" and I felt accomplished as a writer.

Also~ Here is Fragmenting, Jongdae's back story. It says it's complete, it's almost 10k at the moment, but I might add a fourth chapter. We'll see, I have some need for people to talk to me about it and I haven't gotten the chance to try and get that since Angel refuses to talk to me about it and I promised my beta fluffy things before I sent it to her and only today got the chance to write her something fluffy ))