Double Update: Make sure you've read the previous chapter!

You’d think that after spending most of the evening partying – through no initiative of her own, mind you – one would be exhausted enough to drop dead at a moment’s notice. But no. Her body had to find the blissful silence of the mansion a reason to stay awake.

She tried closing her eyes and counting until she fell asleep but her mind kept replaying that stupid song Baekhyun and Chen had put on and it was beginning to get on her nerves. And her entire body felt far too restless to relax.

After tossing and turning for what felt like hours – it was nearing 3 am or the witching hour, as her mother called it – she finally gave up. Sitting up slowly, she tried to move as quietly as possible, not to disturb Leo, who seemed to have no trouble dozing off. Probably because of Lay’s healing…

Hmm, maybe she should ask the healer to knock her out... surely he’d entertain her at this time of the night out of pity. 

With that thought in mind, she slipped out into the corridor. She hesitated briefly by Rose’s door, hand hovering over the handle before sighing and turning away. Rose was fine, she was probably sleeping. Not everyone was an insomniac like her.

Quietly, she made her way to the main ward in hopes of finding the healer there. When she knocked on the door, there was no answer. She peeked inside to find the room plunged in darkness. Pursing her lips, she turned away.

This late, it was a little creepy, even though she was quite familiar with the place. But the last time she’d been confined here had been with the Legends fighting for their lives outside and it wasn’t a particularly pleasant memory.

Lost in her thoughts, she wandered around the emptied rooms, careful to step quietly. It was no surprise when she ended up in front of Xiumin’s room. It had been her haunt whenever she’d stayed at the mansion previously.

A small smile tugged on her lips. Good times, indeed.

‘Lily?’ The voice, if it had belonged to anyone else, would’ve surprised her. As it was, she merely turned around.

‘Can’t sleep?’ she asked instead. Xiumin’s eye bags had spoken for themselves when she’d seen him.  And she could easily identify its cause too. He’d had so much trouble sleeping when Evil had started showing up, plagued by nightmares surrounding his sister’s death. Things were bound to be tougher this time around, knowing that his memories were real, not mere hallucinations as they’d assumed.

Xiumin shook his head. ‘You know how it is.’ He sounded regretful. She wanted to see his face clearly but perhaps it was a good thing that she couldn’t. It made her bolder.

‘Want to talk about it?’ she asked, stepping closer. He stared in her direction for a quiet moment. ‘I’d like that,’ he finally responded.

She nodded and headed towards one of the couches in the living room. Better not push her luck.

‘How’ve you been holding up?’ she asked, adjusting a couple of cushions and pulling one in her lap, to keep her hands busy. It was too tempting to offer to hug him and hold him, like she’d done before, knowing it would help him relax.

‘Terribly,’ he answered, shrugging and dropping beside her. ‘You know how I am without you.’

There was momentary silence in which they both processed his sentence. Xiumin’s eyes, now visible in the moonlight filtering through the glass window, widened, panic clear in them.

‘Lily, I…’

‘Xiumin,’ Lily said. Xiumin immediately quieted. She sighed, pulling the cushion right up to her chest and squeezing it tightly. ‘Why did you break up with me?’ she asked.

During the time she’d spent away, she’d gone over their conversation again and again. And nothing made sense, especially in the light of the beast’s mark he’d given her. If she wasn’t his mate or if he’d deliberately refrained from claiming her… it made no sense to mark her like that. The more she thought about it, the more his reasons sounded like bull, excuse her French.  

Xiumin had fallen quiet but she didn’t speak. He wasn’t getting away without answering, not this time.

‘I… I don’t know.’ he finally let out, shoulders slumping. ‘I’ve asked myself the same thing over and over and I still…’ He turned to face her. ‘I guess I thought it was the only logical thing to do at that time…’

‘It wasn’t!’ she countered.

‘I know that!’ he defended himself. ‘I’ve known it since the day you left!’

Lily looked away. ‘It’s not like you tried to stop me…’ she muttered, trying not to let the hurt show. She’d been so hopeful when he’d shown up but he’d just backed away after her idiot of a brother had punched him. He hadn’t even said anything.

‘It’s not like you wanted to stay,’ he retorted and to her surprise, he sounded upset. ‘You… you just went about setting everything up so you could leave. As if it made no difference!’

Lily chewed on her lip, tempted to give a scathing retort. Did he have any idea how hard it was to keep up the pretense of normality? Like she hadn’t been falling apart at the seams, wanting nothing more than to run back into him and beg him to take her back. She sniffed.

‘I’m not going to sit here and justify myself. You know – knew how I felt and you still told me that I wasn’t your …’ Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

‘It’s not true!’ he threw in quickly, appeasing.   

Lily huffed. ‘You’re an idiot.’

‘I am,’ he agreed readily, and despite herself, Lily felt a small smile tug on her lips. He picked on that immediately, smiling winsomely at her, trying to act cute. She rolled her eyes, looking away. The idiot managed to charm her despite herself. Perhaps she was the bigger idiot.

Quiet followed. She could feel his gaze on her, the hair on the back of her neck standing in response and tension coiling within her, until she couldn’t take it anymore. She turned, met his eyes.

His gaze was hooded, contemplating. It sent a jolt down her spine. If they were still together, she’d close the distance between them herself but she held herself back. She wasn’t falling back into this trap so easily this time.

There was a sudden commotion in one of the rooms and they both sat up, jolted away from their intense staring.  A small light flicked on in the kitchen and someone tall sneaked inside, not doing a very good job of keeping silent. Another, taller figure followed behind much more sneakily and managed to elicit a squeal that was quickly silenced in a pleasurable manner.

Lily looked away, flushing a little bit. Darn her mind and its stupid tendency to bring up inappropriate memories at inopportune moments. She turned to her side and closed her eyes. They had no room peeking at these private moments, even though Raina and Tao could find more appropriate places for their… activities.

Xiumin had no compunctions interrupting the couple, sneaking up on them both and scaring them soundly. It made her laugh despite herself and she giggled when Raina came whining to her. She was happy for the duo and she congratulated her friend for finally finding herself the man of her dreams or whatever other nonsense she was always spouting. Raina bounced back rather quickly at that, obviously bursting to share everything with her.

Lily listened patiently, leaning back into the warmth of the couch. It was extremely pleasant, chatting and catching up. Lily felt her body relax slowly until she yawned mid-sentence. Raina looked at her guiltily. ‘Sorry, I kept you up so long. Lay said you need to rest.’

‘It’s fiiinnne!’ she yawned in response, making Raina giggle again. ‘It’s great to have some company when I’m awake at odd times.’

Raina made a face. ‘What’s up with that? You seem so thin, now that I’m looking at you. You’ve lost a lot of weight, Lily. Have you been eating well?’

Lily made a face at that. She ate when she felt like she could stomach something and when her fever wasn’t bothering her too much. Raina’s eyes narrowed speculatively and she leaned closer, her face closing in. Lily backed into the cushions nervously. ‘What’re you doing?’

Abruptly, she brought up a hand and touched the side of her face. An unpleasant sensation went through her and Lily hurriedly pushed her hand away. Raina looked at her with wide eyes. ‘You’ve been marked too!?’

‘Uh…’ Raina knew about the beast’s mark? Had she been…?

She shook her head at the look on Lily’s face. ‘Kyra… D.O marked her when… well, it’s kind of long story.’

Lily opened to say she was game for it but another yawn interrupted her and Raina laughed. ‘Go to sleep, you look like you haven’t slept in months.’

Lily frowned at her. ‘I haven’t.’

Raina made a face. ‘My bad. If you’re comfortable here, I’ll bring you a blanket.’

Lily thought about it. The couch felt way better than the bed she’d been lying in and she was feeling pleasantly lazy, the thought of getting up too much. She nodded instead and thanked the girl when she brought her the coverings. ‘Good night!’ Raina told her, quietly slipping away.

Or well, as quietly as she could while bumping into furniture. Lily watched her leave fondly and turned to her side, eyes closing.

Sadly, sleep still evaded her and she could feel her eyes getting heavier but her brain refused to shut down. She was on the verge of pulling her hair when she heard footsteps again. Xiumin had returned from wherever he’d vanished to after scaring Tao.

‘Still up?’ he asked sympathetically, taking in her form. Her hair was a mess and an irritated frown decorated her face. Lily frowned even more at him. After all, it was his fault that she couldn’t sleep.

‘You should take responsibility,’ she told him. Part of her warned her that she was letting her sleep-deprivation talk. The rest of her was beyond caring. She just wanted to sleep, dammit!

Xiumin blinked, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. ‘Um…’

‘Take responsibility for what you’ve done,’ she demanded. He looked at her with wide eyes. ‘Wh-what? H-how?’

She stopped, not having thought that far ahead. She tilted her head, Lay’s wicked smirk flashing behind her eyes and she felt a smirk of her own form.

She met his eyes. ‘Sleep with me.’

……………………………………………

Heaven and hell. That’s where he was, trapped right in between the two.

On the plus side of things, he had Lily right where he wanted, in his bed, by his side and completely surrounded by his scent. On the not so plus side of things, he couldn’t lay a finger on her, not if he wanted her to stay where she was.

After her rather unusual demand, he’d approached her cautiously. Lily had the glint in her eyes that she got when she’d struck gold with some business deal; and while he admired her business acumen, he’d rather not be on the receiving end of it. It was frankly a little scary and a lot y, and neither were good for his sanity.

Also, he knew from past experience that a sleep-deprived Lily was dangerous. She turned mean, ruthless and completely lost its filter. And while he usually found that side of her quite endearing, he wasn’t sure he could take all the just accusations she’d throw at him. The little interaction earlier had told him exactly what she felt about his decision to end things with her and he knew he wasn’t her favorite person right now.

So her demand to sleep with him made little sense. And she kept demanding that he took responsibility but he’d like to know what he was taking it for.

He didn’t have the guts to ask her though, wary of how she’d react. She’d tracked him, eyes wide open yet obviously tired, waiting until he was beside her make-shift bed. Then she shifted over to one side and pulled the covers up to her chin, patting the place beside her. ‘Sleep with me,’ she reiterated, sounding coy.

He had a feeling she knew exactly what her words were doing to him. Of course she knew. He hadn’t pretended that her being there didn’t affect him and he knew that his presence affected her too. But she’d also made it very clear that he was far from forgiven and he had his work cut out for him.

And so here he was, with his mate lying a mere foot away, the covers acting as a shield between them while they stared at each other. She was looking at him unabashedly, and he’d return the favor after he caught his breath.

This close, her scent was strong, nearly overpowering. Mixing with his own, it aroused the possessive instincts of the beast and he wanted nothing more than to reach over, push her down and have his way with her. The beast was trying, per usual, to push itself way out and he’d long since given up trying to push it back. He wanted the creature to come out and stake its claim the way it was supposed to and put them both out of their misery.

He ran his eyes over her form, taking in the way moonlight complimented her. She was gorgeous, always, but right now, she looked divine. Their eyes met, held. Her eyes seemed heavier now, the lids drooping as she slowly blinked and he matched her pace, feeling his own eyes getting heavier and heavier until they finally slid close.

………………………………………………….

‘Tch,’ Leo muttered, shaking his head.

Lily’s face was buried into Xiumin’s neck, her leg lodged against his, her arm resting over his chest. Xiumin’s arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her close intimately, even with the blanket between them. Both their faces were completely relaxed and so, so peaceful.

Leo shook his head again. He’d gotten up to an empty bed where Lily was supposed to be and had assumed the worst. Given the nature of his arrival at this place, he thought it was justified. He’d rushed out, peeked into the adjoining rooms, only to find Rose but no one else. Then, he’d gone on to search for Lily and found her sleeping with her ex.

Was he even an ex though? He didn’t know the complete story between them; Lily had only relayed that they’d broken up without giving any reasoning of how or why. He now understood that she’d been reserved because of Xiumin being a Legend and all that. But from what Suho had explained yesterday, he wondered if Lily was Xiumin’s mate… could one break up with their mate? Interesting question.

Truth be told, he still had his reservations regarding Xiumin. He knew his sister well, she didn’t do relationships. The fact that she’d subtly hinted at bringing him to home to introduce him to the family spoke volumes about her feelings. Now, knowing why he’d done it, he could appreciate it more but he still thought the guy was a moron to let someone like Lily slip out of his fingers.

And no, he wasn’t biased because Lily was his sister. Or maybe he was but it, his sister was a gem. And he was no Legend but he was a married man. Xiumin was making the same mistakes he had when he’d first met his wife, getting scared because of the intensity of his own emotions and thinking he could somehow protect her from his own dark past. It had taken the gangs kidnapping her to get back at him for him to realize what she meant for him.

He didn’t want his sister to go through something like that because the guy she loved was an idiot. Most men were, when it came to real feelings and Legends, it seemed, were no different.

He eyed the duo again. They weren’t indecent or anything – they were sleeping right in the living room, for crying out loud – but it still felt peeking in on something private. He glanced around for something, and upon finding a quilt, he threw it over them, turning to go back to his room.

………………………………………

Lily’s eyes opened as something fluttered over her. She blinked slowly, trying to remember where she was. It had been a long time since she’d slept deeply enough to be disoriented when she woke up.

A vague memory of her asking Xiumin to… sleep with her went through her head and she blinked. Surely that was a dream.

Something moved under her fingers and she realized that her arm was resting against something warm. Something that felt familiar under her fingertips, that rose and fell with each breath and oh dear, she hadn’t really asked Xiumin to sleep with her, had she?

She pulled back, only to be stopped by arms tightening around her and she realized, with rising horror, that Xiumin was holding her. She was actually sleeping with him!

Becoming aware of her surroundings was not at all helpful. Because not only was Xiumin holding her but she was practically clinging to him, her leg lodged against his knees and her head all but buried in his chest. Ugh, what the hell was this? She was supposed to make him suffer by keeping her distance, not jump into his arms the first chance she got.

This was terrible. Even though this was the best sleep she’d had in months, and she felt actually refreshed for once; her body was not feverish or achy and the covers didn’t irritate her skin. Still, it had to be terrible. She was supposed to hold out. Ugh.

Quietly as possible, she tried to slip away. The arms around her tightened again but she diligently pushed back, finally freeing herself and straightening, to look around.

At least they were in the living room and not his bedroom, thank the lord for small favors. Before she could embarrass herself any further, Lily got herself away from the place as quickly as possible. She didn’t see Xiumin watching her leave, an amused smile playing on his lips.

…………………………………………

A/N

I also ship Lily and Xiumin <3 Hope you enjoyed this :D