(( Hey all, it's been a while, have a long chapter~ ))

“Baek, come on,” Chanyeol whined from the couch, looking over the back of down the hallway to the open door that the brunet was inside, seeing his shadow in the light that was cast over the wall of the hallway. “If we don’t leave in the next few minutes, we’re going to be late.”

“I’m trying to make sure everything’s perfect,” came the older’s response and Chanyeol shook his head, letting out a small sigh as he stood from the couch, making his way down the hall, leaning against the doorway.

“It’s not like they’re going to let us bring someone home today. We’re just going to fill out paper work and meet some of the girls. Then we have two more weeks at least to decide and make any changes that we want to,” he stated, pushing off the doorframe to wrap his arms around the other, pulling him close so that Baekhyun’s back was against his chest.

“Are we sure about this?” Baekhyun asked, Chanyeol lowering his head a little to rest it on the older’s shoulder.

“Well, we got married almost seven months ago. Next step is adopting a child, isn’t it?” He asked, a smile tugging at his lips. Baekhyun bit at his own, turning in the dark haired male’s arms, looking up at Chanyeol as he straightened.

“But are we ready for this? I know we’ve been talking about it for a while but… what if we’re not ready?”

“Like I said, Baek, we’re not taking anyone home with us today. We can go there and fill out all the paperwork that they want us to do, at the end of the day if we come home and we have any doubts, then we don’t have to go back until we’re both ready. I’ll call and let them know, and we won’t have to make a second trip there, okay?” he asked, hands coming up to cup Baekhyun’s cheeks. “But I think we’re ready for a little bundle of joy that we can spoil rotten,” he added with a grin, Baekhyun’s shoulders finally relaxing.

“Are you sure?” he asked, the other nodding, placing a kiss on Baekhyun’s forehead, lowering his hands to his shoulders after. “Okay… let’s go,” Baekhyun said, looking around the room once more as he followed Chanyeol out of the room and to the car, watching as the house grew smaller and smaller in the reflection of the rear view mirror. He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt something brush against the back of his hand, taking a slow breath as Chanyeol’s fingers intertwined with his own.

“You’re still worrying, aren’t you?” he asked, Baekhyun looking over at him, nodding. Chanyeol glanced over at him, offering a smile, eyes flickering back to the road before he offered a smile as his attention was directed towards Baekhyun again. “Things are going to be alright, Baek. I promise. We don’t have to make any kind of commitments about a-”

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun all but screamed, the younger’s attention snapping back ahead of them to catch a glimpse of someone on a bike, harshly yanking the steering wheel to the right. He felt Baekhyun’s hold on his hand tighten as a wooden phone pole came into focus, followed by the sounds of glass cracking and metal being crushed, a sharp pain shooting up his arm and through his head as it came into contact with the windshield.

Baekhyun scrunched his face a little, groaning as he tried to move, feeling something halfway pinning him against the passenger door. He tried to sit up, pain sparking through the side of his face as he removed it from the window, coughing a little before opening his eyes. The first thing he saw once his vision cleared was the airbag that held him against the passenger side door, and he groaned a little as he tried to move. He looked around the car, everything seeming almost in slow motion while playing at normal speed, leaving him disorientated as he pieced together what happened. They had… crashed? The sound of a siren faded in, his attention turning to the window as he heard tapping on it, blinking slowly at the police officer on the other side.

“Please remain calm, we’ll get you our as soon as we can,” came the officer’s muffled voice, Baekhyun turning his gaze over to Chanyeol, whom was draped over the steering wheel, and his stomach twisting as the other’s eyes were closed, red streaks across the windshield starting from where the dark haired male’s head had made contact with it. Why hadn’t the airbag in the steering wheel inflated? Baekhyun cringed a little as he shifted, his fingers instinctually curling around what his hand was on, realizing a second later that his fingers were still intertwined with Chanyeol’s and he looked down, eyes widening a little at the odd angle that the younger’s arm was now bent at.

“Chan-” he cut out to cough, swallowing even though it made his throat hurt. “Chanyeol… wake up…” he said, watching the dark haired male’s motionless face. “Please-” He flinched at the tap on his window, looking to the two uniformed men on the other side.

“Please move as far from the window as you can,” the officer said, and Baekhyun winced as he did so, only able to shift a couple of inches closer to Chanyeol with the airbag still inflated. There was a scrape of metal against metal, then again louder as the car door was pried open. As the airbag was deflated Baekhyun’s eyes turned back to Chanyeol, tightening his hold on the younger’s hand, his heart lodging itself in his throat just before he saw the twitch of the other’s eyebrow, and Baekhyun choked on a noise.

“Yeol, open your eyes, please, I need to know you’re okay,” the brunet begged, eyes snapping to the paramedic that was cutting him out of his seatbelt, trying to usher him out of the car. “What are you- no, wait. I’m not the one that needs help, get him, he…” Baekhyun felt his throat tighten, eyes darting back to Chanyeol in time to see his eyes open halfway, close, then blink open slowly. “Yeol!” he exclaimed, the dark haired disoriented gaze shifting to him before he slowly sat up, looking around. His attention was quick to turn back to Baekhyun as the older’s hand slipped from his when Baekhyun was halfway dragged out of the car.

“Baek?” Came the younger’s voice as the brunet struggled against the paramedic, stopping only when he saw someone on the other side of the car, working on opening the driver’s side door as well. He was helped into the back of an ambulance, eyes locked on the smashed car through the back window of the vehicle as he was strapped to the gurney. He didn’t hear most of the questions asked as the car grew smaller and smaller feeling confusion mixing with panic creeping through his veins.

I need to be with him… why won’t they let me see him? The questions played over and over in his head, foot tapping on the floor of the waiting room that was empty aside from him. His skin felt like it was crawling, and had since Chanyeol had disappeared from his view, knowing that it wasn’t only his worry. He could feel Chanyeol’s as well, and if the younger could feel Baekhyun’s as well, that was going to just amplify things and- Baekhyun nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his phone start to ring. He felt the ache in his side as he shifted, pulling the device out of his pocket, biting at the inside of his lip at the caller ID. He took a slow breath, selecting answer, raising the device to his ear.

“Hey Jongdae.”

“Don’t you ‘hey Jongdae’ me, what the hell happened?” came the other’s response and Baekhyun lit out a small sigh.

“Yeol and I w-were in an accident. We’re okay though… I think. But they w-won’t let me see him, no one’s come in to check on me since they patched me up. He got hurt worse I think… I don’t know, he woke up by the time they got me out of the car… I didn’t see them get him out of the car thought-oh god what if that’s why they won’t-”

“Wait you two were in a car accident?” Jongdae cut in, Baekhyun taking a moment to rewind a little.

“Yeah, Yeol was driving and he swerved and we hit something.”

“What, was he too busy with his fingers up your to pay attention to the road?” Jongdae scoffed, Baekhyun gritting his teeth despite the discomfort it caused.

“Jongdae this is serious, quit making a joke out of it,” Baekhyun ordered, hearing the click of the other’s tongue over the speaker.

“Sorry, you’ve never been one for letting me console you. Crude comments seem like the only way to get to you most of the time,” the other stated bluntly, Baekhyun biting at the inside of his lip as he remembered their fight back when he had walked out on Chanyeol, and he heard Jongdae sigh. “Look, I’m sure that everything’s going to be alright. They’re probably just making sure that he’s put back together correctly.”

“Jongdae?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s not helping me not freak out right now.”

“Sorry, that joke sounded funnier in my head,” Jongdae sighed, Baekhyun looking over to the door as it opened and a nurse let herself in. “I can come pick you and Chanyeol-Hyung up, just text me which hospital you’re at, okay? To make up for my comments.”

“Alright, I’ll let you know when to head this way,” Baekhyun replied, ending the call and looking to the nurse who offered a smile to him.

“Aside from some scratches it seems like you’re fine and free to be discharged. Right now your…”

“Husband.”

“Right. Your… Husband is having his arm set and put into a sling, as it seems that the impact of the crash broke his elbow. But once that’s been finished the doctor will check him over once more and the two of you will be free to leave. Do you have any questions for me?” she asked, Baekhyun swiping his tongue over his lips.

“When can I see him?” he asked, watching as she scribbled down a few notes on her board.

“Soon. I’ll take you to the waiting room now, and then it shouldn’t be long before he comes out to join you,” she stated as she opened the door, Baekhyun slipping off the examination table, freezing when he caught sight of his own reflection on the mirror over the sink- feeling his stomach drop at the line of stitches lining the cuts that sparked out into a wide spread W across his cheek and a tilted V between his eyebrow and his hair line. The nurse gave him a slightly sympathetic look, stepping back into the room and letting the door close as she opened one of the cabinents, pulling out a roll of gauze, a small single-use tube of first-aid cream and some medical tape. After cutting a few strips of the gauze, she applied the cream along the center of them, gently securing them to the brunet’s face after, pulling her hands back and smiling a little brighter once she was finished.

“Better?” She asked, Baekhyun nodding, following her out of the room this time.

~

“Baek, it’s time to go.” The brunet lying on the bed shook his head just enough for Chanyeol to see, and he drooped a little, padding his way into the room. “Baek, come on. It’s been over a week… I’m amazed that they agreed to let us schedule another appointment considering we didn’t let them know about us not making it to the other one within the twenty-four hour window that they ask for.”

“They probably agreed because we were kinda in the hospital when we were supposed to be filling out paperwork. And no. I’m not going.” Chanyeol dropped himself on the bed, Baekhyun pulling a pillow over his face. “Don’t look at me.”

“You act like I don’t know about the stitches. They’re really not that bad, you’ll be able to remove them soon enough,” he soothed, pulling the pillow gently away with his good arm, setting it on the floor beside the bed. “Baek, please. I’m not going to the adoption center without you.”

“Maybe this whole thing was a sign that we shouldn’t adopt.”

“Oh my god, no it’s not. It’s just a sign that you’ve got a big dumb, who should never be in charge of driving again, for a husband.”

“What if I scare the children? It’s not every day that you see someone who’s face is all jacked up.”

“Your face isn’t jacked up, they’re just scratches.”

“Scratches don’t need stitches.” Chanyeol sighed, taking one of Baekhyun’s hands, intertwining their fingers as he set their hands in his lap. 

“This is all my fault. The last thing that I should be doing is trying to push you into things again. Maybe if I had listened to you a couple of weeks ago, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt… I’m so sorry, Baekhyun. I’m sorry if I’ve made you doubt that we’re meant to raise a child… I know this isn’t a sign of that, it’s just a sign that I need to be more aware of things. We’re not indestructible, and I could have-” Chanyeol cut off, swallowing hard and Baekhyun looked up at him as he felt Chanyeol’s hold on his hand tighten. “I could have killed you… Oh god, I could have…” Tears started to well up in the younger’s eyes, Baekhyun feeling the shaking of the hand wrapped around his as Chanyeol leaned forward a little, his free hand covering his mouth as he stared at the ground without seeing anything. Baekhyun sat up, pulling his hand from Chanyeol’s so he could wrap both of his arms around the other, pulling him close.

“Hey, no… Don’t think about that. I… My airbag went off, yours didn’t. If anyone had a chance of dying it was you. When I woke up and I saw you… and your eyes were closed and you… you took so long to wake up, I… I was so scared. And then they kept us in different checkup rooms, and they wouldn’t let me go see you, I found myself thinking that if I lost you again… If I lost you for real this time, that it would kill me. If it’s not with you, I don’t think I could bring myself to do anything… Not find someone else, not raise a child… I know I wouldn’t try to die but… I know I wouldn’t really be living either.” Baekhyun sat up with a small sigh, leaning against Chanyeol, looking over at the sling his arm was in before he intertwined his fingers with the dark haired male’s other hand. 

“We don’t have to do this, Baek. You know how I feel about trying to push you into things, and if you really don’t think we’re ready then just say the word and I’ll cancel our meeting.” Baekhyun took a slow breath, letting it out in the same fashion, giving the younger’s hand a squeeze.

“Let’s go.” The smile that broke out over Chanyeol’s lips made Baekhyun’s heart throb in his chest and he offered one of his own in response.

~

After the initial meeting and paperwork, of which Baekhyun had to fill out everything but Chanyeol’s signature for due to the other’s broken elbow, they were each supposed to be interviewed on their own. Baekhyun sat in one of the chairs seated outside the office, attention set on the folder containing their copies of the paperwork, lost in thought to the point that he didn’t notice someone come up to him.

“Your face is broken.” Baekhyun flinched at the words, looking over at the little boy standing less than two feet from him, retreating ever so slightly on himself. “It’s okay, mine is too,” the little boy continued, causing Baekhyun’s eyebrows to knit together, wincing at the jolt of pain it caused. 

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking over the little boy’s face. There wasn’t a single scratch on the dark brown haired boy’s face, which said little boy was pointing at.

“That’s what the other kids tell me. They say I smile funny and that it’s because my face is broken,” he stated, Baekhyun’s eyes widening a little and he opened his mouth to reply, jumping when the door beside him opened and let out Chanyeol’s laughter. The dark haired male looked between the two, offering a small wave to the little boy.

“Making friends, Baek?” he asked as the brunet stood, looking from Chanyeol over to the little boy.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied slowly, noticing the sheepish grin that the little boy gave the interviewer when she told him he was supposed to be in the playroom with the other children.

“I’ll just be a moment, please make yourself comfortable,” he said, gesturing for Baekhyun to enter the office as she nudged the child along.

“Hey,” Baekhyun called, the two stopping to look back at him. “The other kids are jerks, your face isn’t broken. Don’t listen to them,” he stated, feeling a tug at his heart that the bright grin he got before they started walking down the hall again.

“What was that about?” Chanyeol asked, Baekhyun offering a shrug as he turned and stepped into the office.

“He said that someone told him his face was broken because of his smile. Why are children s?”

“Oh my god, Baek, don’t say that, we want them to actually let us adopt one of these kids,” Chanyeol replied, taking Baekhyun’s previous seat. “At least little girls are angels, so we won’t have to worry about her bullying someone.” he added, Baekhyun giving a small nod as the interviewer returned, entering the room and closing the door behind herself to start his part of the interview.

“Alright, I have you two down for the 18th, so two weeks from now. Does the same time of day work for you?” The woman reviewed, the pair nodding as they stood, shuffling out of office, headed back to Baekhyun’s car. The dark hared male settled in the passenger seat, flipping through the file they had been given, reading out the descriptions of the girls that were listed as available for adoption. He was on the fourth when he glanced over at Baekhyun, frowning ever so slightly.

“Let me know if one of them catches your attention, okay Baek?” he asked, the brunet giving a small hum of confirmation as they continued down the road to their home.