The next morning came as something that the group hadn't seen in a long time. Chen and Lay woke up to find Tao sitting at the dining table, it was clear the boy still didn't trust any on them yet though. Not even in Xiumin who walked out of his room a few minutes later. Lay made some breakfast and they all ate, Tao sitting at the farthest side of the table.

Even if Tao gave them some wary looks or just ignored them most of the time, it felt pleasant to see the younger boy. It felt nice for the others to finally get to see their youngest friend out of his room for a while.

The true surprise however, came two hours later, when Luhan woke up and stumbled his way from his room to the bathroom and from the bathroom to the couch.

When Luhan sat on the couch, mind still foggy from sleep, Tao stood up. They all guessed that he would go and lock himself on the room, all except Luhan who leaned back on the couch and tried to go back to sleep, not really paying attention to anything.

You could hear the jaws of the other three members hit the floor when Tao walked over to where Luhan was, carefully pulling the man up to a sitting position and sitting down before allowing the older to lay against him, keeping him close with his arms around the older.

All the three could think was how... Odd. The picture seemed strange compared to what they were used to, but inside them, they liked it a whole lot more. The thought that it looked better than what used to be, even before of what they liked to call 'the breakup night'.

Luhan could hear his heart thump loudly as the scent of the other man filled his nose. He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to wake up if it was a dream. He could feel the eyes of their roommates boring holes on his head, eager to get an explication. But the older wasn't in the mood for explanations, and he knew that Tao wouldn't give any.

"Luhan, your breakfast is in the microwave" Lay told his friend, collecting the empty plates from the table. Luhan sighed and opened his eyes, expecting to be faced with the reality of his room. He couldn't help the smile that he quickly hid as he was rewarded with the raven haired boy pressed to his side.

With a stretch and a yawn Luhan stood up to go and collect his food. Tao took this as his leave and stood up, walking to the room and closing the door behind him with a soft click. Luhan couldn't help but follow the boy with his eyes, gaze lingering on the closed door for a while.

When he continued his way to the kitchen and grabbed his food, the others swarmed around him, not even allowing the boy to reach the table.

"What just happened?!" Chen asked Luhan, who pushed past the others to the table. Luhan shrugged and started eating, only for his plate to be snatched away by Lay.

"Luhan, this is important, we all want to help him" Lay justified, a frustrated look directed at Luhan.

"I just talked to him like you suggested" Luhan said pointing at Xiumin "and if he wants you guys to help, he will come to you when he's ready" Luhan said getting up and going to his room. He threw himself in the bed, and buried his face on the pillow, pondering on what he should do now that his food had been taken away.

He knew he was over reacting, and the others meant well, but he was too tired and hungry for that, plus he wasn’t exactly a morning person.

After some moments a soft knock was heard from the door, Luhan just grumbled at it, the door opening anyways.

"You forgot your breakfast" Xiumin muttered, placing the plate on the night table next to his best friend. Luhan looked up at the plate and then glanced at his friend.

"Is this your way of getting me to speak?" Luhan questioned sitting cross legged on the bed. Xiumin just shook his head and smiled at the other.

"No, I just thought that you must be hungry" he said, pulling a chair from the corner. Luhan hummed and grabbed the plate, eating his food hungrily.

"So you talked to Tao, and I take it that it went well" Xiumin said, Luhan nodding with his mouth full.

"That's good, I hope that the old Tao will be back soon" Xiumin told the other with a sad smile while he stared at the ceiling. Every member of the dorm that had seen Tao change knew that the chances of the childish Tao to come back were slim, but they still hoped that he would return to his old self.

The boy stood up and placed the chair were it had been when he finished his small conversation with Luhan.

"Oh I almost forgot, we have to do all the final confirmations today, we will meet up with Suho and the guys over at the airport when we get to Korea tomorrow" Xiumin added, closing the door after he said that with a small smile.

Luhan paid no mind to the news and continued eating, taking the plate to the kitchen when he finished. Before entering his room again, he made sure that Tao was getting ready.

“Hey, how’s everything going?” Luhan asked the raven haired man from the doorstep with a smile. He leaned his weight on the door frame while he watched the other preparing his backpack and suitcase.

“Ok I guess” Tao said softly, glancing at Luhan for a second in acknowledgement before going back to his things. Luhan hummed with a small smile. It was clear that Tao was enjoying the other’s presence, and even if Luhan wanted to stay a little bit more, he had to go and prepare his own things.

When everyone was ready they went to the university's main office where they would make all the final arrangements for the trip. After doing all the arrangements, the guys all went off to their respective lessons and classes. When each finished whatever they had to do or lessons they had to take, one by one they called it a day, walking back to the dorm to take a bath and a good night sleep.

With a huff Luhan stood up at the end of his respective lesson and got up. He packed his notes and pen, glancing at the professor who was talking with some other students. All the other students did the same thing his friends had done and called it a day, others decided to head out to hang out.

Luhan on the other hand had a different idea and thought of waiting for Tao, the younger always being the last to get out of the university. While he waited out of Tao's classroom he started to rummage through his bag, a low buzz having gone off in it. He took his phone and unlocked it seeing a text message in the screen of his phone, color abandoning his face when he saw the sender.

Sehun:

Don't go around in the airport when you arrive.

And that was all it took for everything that Luhan had worked for, to come crumbling down to the ground.

He walked his way outside of the building willing himself to move his legs faster with each step. He kept going until his legs didn’t want to move anymore reaching a tree and gripping his phone tightly in his fist. His nails scraped against the bark, dirtying his hands as his eyes watered and his vision was blurry. He sat on the floor, legs coming up to protect his chest and burry his face on his knees. His back was pressed against the tree as he sobbed almost inaudibly, not wanting anyone to know that he was crying.

After a little while of Luhan sitting there alone, soft yet strong hands tapped his shoulders. The soft touches were followed by careful hands grabbing his wrists.

"Luhan, what's wrong" Tao’s voice asked trying to pry his hands away from his face. Luhan just pulled away and pressed his hands harder against his face, not wanting the younger to see his face like this. He heard Tao move and pick up his bag. He peeked through his fingers only to see Tao holding the small device that he had stuffed away in his bag just minutes ago.

Tao's face turned bright red after reading the message. He place the phone back on the bag and mumbled something along the lines of Sehun being a 'son of a '.

The tall boy walked up to Luhan and wrapped his long muscular arms around the older, dragging him to his lap and letting the older cry to his content against his chest.

Luhan just cried like he haven't done in long time, eyes becoming puffy because of it. For an odd reason, watching the older suffering so much caused Tao’s heart to ache, and made him want to protect the older blonde man with all his might. Tao started swaying lightly, when Luhan started to calm down.

"Thanks" Luhan mumbled drawing circles on Tao's shirt when he was already calm. Tao just nodded softly and kept quiet, watching as the older's eyes slowly closed, exhaustion getting the better of him. When Luhan was fast asleep, Tao couldn't resist the other’s innocent face and those pinkish lips that just called for him.

Slowly Tao leaned down until his breath gusted over the other’s face, his lips brushing merely inches away from Luhan's before he stopped. He pulled back and took a deep breath, not able to steal a light peck from the other. For him it didn't felt right, and less in a moment like this.

Tao was starting to acknowledge his feelings towards the other, but the boy couldn't deny it. In the outside, he might seem brave, non-caring and even cold, but the inside was a different story.

Ever since Kris left him behind, he hoped that the older would just turn around and come back, something that never happened. Since then he grew afraid of being betrayed once again, even if it was only a friend. That's why he had isolated himself from his friends and even classmates. No friends meant no one that would betray him, no one there to hurt him. But Luhan somehow managed to pass right through that barrier when Tao saw the other, just as lost and broken as he was. So he decided to be the piece that would fix Luhan, just like Luhan had been the piece that started to fix him.

With an exasperated sigh he slowly placed Luhan on the floor, standing up to gather their things. He pulled a hoodie from his bag and put it on, considering that the thin fabric of his current shirt wouldn't do much for him in the chilly night that was approaching. After he was ready he turned off Luhan's phone and placed it back in the elder’s bag, taking both their bags and swinging them over his head, setting them in a comfortable way.

He took his extra jacket and covered Luhan's chest with it so that he wouldn't get cold and proceeded to carry him. The tall boy slipped his hands under Luhan's legs and back, arranging the boy in his arms so that he could be able to carry him bridal style. Luhan unconsciously pressed himself closer to Tao's chest, enjoying the rhythmical thumping of the younger's heart. Tao looked down at the boy in his arms, taken aback by the sudden action, a small secret smile and a fond look filling his eyes. Right then Tao realized that’s all he really wanted, to be able to hold him like this every day of their lives.

With that thought Tao started to walk his way out of the campus and through the busy streets, some by passers giving him weird looks. The raven-haired could care less of what they thought, he was finally starting to open up bit by bit. Everything seemed to finally be going smoothly until he heard the voice that he dreaded the most.

"Tao?" A deep voice asked worriedly. Tao turned around, a glare already forming in his eyes.

"What do you want Yifan" Tao said with a poisonous tone. Kris pulled the scarf that covered his face from the cold air and looked at both of them concerned.

"You know that you can call me Kris, and what's wrong with Luhan? Is he sick?" Kris asked walking closer, only for Tao to walk a step back.

"Kris died the day that you left us, the day that you left me, and Luhan is fine, no one needs your help" Tao said in a cold tone.

"Do you want some help Taozi?I can help you carry him" Kris offered outstretching his arms to help the younger. At this Tao recoiled his arms and pressed Luhan tighter to his chest as if he was protecting a small child.

"Don't you ever dare call me that again Yifan" the younger hissed and with that Tao left, the older just staring in pain as the pair disappeared in the cold night.

In that moment no tears pooled in his eyes, there wasn't a lump in his throat and he didn't regret anything that he had just said. His heart clenched at the cold memory of the betrayal he felt that night. He remembered the coldness in his core when he was facing reality all alone. But all that was just that, a cold memory slowly fading away. Tao knew that he had moved on and if he hadn’t, he was damn sure he was just a tiny step away from doing so. Now it was clear for him, that there currently wasn't a single positive feeling in his being that was directed at the person who used to be Kris. Now all those feelings were slowly finding their way through a new path, a path that lead up to the boy that was fast asleep in his arms. Now all he had to do was get better and heal, so that he could heal Luhan as well.

"I'll take care of you" Tao assured, walking down the street where the dorm was starting to show.

--

Hey! Thank you so much for all the support!

I apologize for the irregular updates, but university is being a living hell, especially now that I’m in finals.

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