warning: a very fluffy chapter ahead

Chapter 43 - A healing reunion

Ara has fainted a lot of times since she has met the boys, and it has come to the point of being embarrassing, really. She always finds herself waking up with either an angry Kai hovering over her, or a worried Yunho.

This time, however, she’s in for a surprise because the peeping sounds next to her aren’t from Sehun’s phone, and the bright light over her isn’t from the light on Kai’s roof. She’s in a hospital room.

“What the-.” Ara immediately coughs, dry and sore, and someone is pushing a glass of water to her lips, urging her to drink the cold liquid. She pants when the glass is removed, taking in the nurse’s outfit of whoever had helped her, and then she looks up, her eyes widening in surprise.

Her mother doesn’t look her in the eyes, can’t look her in the eyes, and she awkwardly clears and checks Ara’s vitals on the machine next to her.

“You suffered from a dangerous concussion, a sprained ankle, multiple cuts on your arms, and a possible collapsed lung.” Ara coughs incredulously, pressing a hand to , and her mother gives her a pointed look when she says, “but your friend came by to your house last night and requested I leave you with him for an hour because he had to heal you.” Ara’s mother crosses her arms over her chest, expectantly staring at her daughter, and the latter gulps, nervously averting her gaze. “When did you plan on telling me?”

“What about the rest?” Ara avoids answering her mother’s question, looking down at her fiddling fingers. There’s an IV drip on the back of her hand, and she makes sure not to stare too long at it, feeling nauseous, which is quite funny considering the amount of she has been through lately. “Are they okay?”

“You didn’t answer my question,” her mother sighs, frowning, and Ara looks up, feeling her heart beating faster because she hasn’t seen that look on her mother’s face since her father’s death. It’s the look of fatigue and defeat, her mother used to look like that when Ara would whine endlessly to get her favourite candy.

Ara swallows the knot in and looks down at her hands.

“They’re all okay; their werewolf healing prevented them from being dangerously injured.” Ara nods, inwardly sighing in relief.

“I don’t know.” Her mother frowns, and Ara clears , looking up. “I was going to tell you eventually, but I never knew when, because of…our relationship.” Ara’s mother nods slowly, pursing her lips, and then there are tears gathering in her eyes, making Ara nervous.

“Was-was he also like you?” Ara in a sharp breath, suddenly remembering her meeting with Insung last night, how real it had been, and she bites her lip, nodding. Her mother chokes back a sob and turns around, placing her face in her hands, and Ara gulps, nervously pushing away the blanket draped over her.

She stands up on shaky legs and takes a step closer to her mother, making sure not to pull the IV-drip chord too far, and then she hesitantly wraps her arms around her mother’s waist. She freezes, her quiet crying coming to a halt, and then she turns around, sobbing into Ara’s neck.

“I’m so sorry, my poor baby,” she cries, and Ara feels a few tears rolling down her cheeks. “I can’t believe how I’ve treated you, oh God, I hate myself so much, I hate-“

“Mom, stop,” Ara mutters, pressing her closer, and her mother complies, silently crying into her neck.

Ara’s heart is warming up with each second, and she smiles through her tears, feeling like she’s in a dream. When her mother eventually pulls away, she playfully smacks Ara on the arm and quickly ushers her back onto the bed to rest.

"I have more questions than you can imagine," she mumbles, and Ara gives her a sheepish smile as she climbs onto the bed. "But I won't ask anything now or else I'll go mad."

"I'll tell you everything you want to know whenever you're ready, mom." Ara smiles and her mother sighs.

“You’ll be discharged tomorrow, just to make sure you’re completely healed.” She pulls the blanket over Ara’s body and places a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “You can choose wherever you want to stay, but I want you to know that I’m always open to having you home again.” Her mother sounds guilty, and Ara frowns. “I’ve put you through hell these past two years because I couldn’t come to terms with my husband’s death; I’m not going to ruin your life anymore.”

“You won’t,” Ara says, grabbing her mother’s wrist to stop her from stepping away. “Now you know why everything that happened, happened. Now you can start over again, mom. It’s never too late.” Her mother huffs out a small laugh, nodding, quickly wiping away her tears.

“It’s never too late,” she whispers, and Ara smiles. “I sent the boys home four hours ago, they still had school today, but one of them insisted he had to stay.” Ara’s heart misses a beat, and then she feels him, his presence somewhere in the hospital. She had been preoccupied with her mother, so she didn’t notice Kai’s presence, but now she feels him, and he’s getting closer and closer to the room, most likely listening to their conversation. “I’m gonna let him in, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah,” Ara squeaks, her cheeks burning in embarrassment when her mother arches an eyebrow, a small smirk on her lips.

She doesn’t question anything, though, shrugging before leaning in to quickly kiss Ara on the forehead. The touch is so nostalgic that Ara feels like crying again, but she wills herself to stay strong and smiles as her mother leaves the room, closing the door after her.

It hasn’t even been two seconds before the door opens again and Kai barges in, his body a flurry of black and grey before he practically jumps Ara, his arms around her and his scent everywhere.

“I hate you so much,” he groans, rubbing his nose against her hair and then her neck, leaving his scent on her, and Ara giggles, smiling widely. Kai pulls back, and he’s sitting on the bedside now, frowning down at Ara. “Wonbin is dead, he won’t be able to bother you ever again.”

Ara’s smile falters and she nods, remembering the events of last night. The shadows, the police officers, the wolf. Her eyes widen and she sits up straight, almost headbutting Kai’s head in the process.

“You turned into a wolf! Kai, you’re literally a werewolf now! Like a huge, black wolf-werewolf!" Kai looks at her for a few seconds, quietly taking in her flushed cheeks and wide eyes, and then he starts laughing, grinning boyishly, and Ara blinks, her own lips stretching into a small smile. “Why are you laughing?”

“You’re cute.” Ara flushes even more than she already has, and she hides her face in her hands, making Kai chuckle again. “Yunho said it happened because our bond reached its potential; you were being stripped off your magic, my wolf sensed the danger and then it happened. You managed to use your magic without me touching you, and I turned into a wolf.” Ara peeks through her fingers and narrows her eyes.

“What about the police officers?” Kai sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

“We managed to convince them that they were affected by some of the weed we had taken,” Ara’s jaw drops at that and Kai snorts, “it took a while, but they eventually believed us because how the hell is a teenage girl supposed to hold a man up in the air with her mind only.” Ara giggles and shakes her head in disbelief, and Kai grins, continuing. “They searched the house and the area for proof but we said we’d burned the weed up completely. Kris and Luhan helped get rid of Wonbin’s car, along with his body, so there’s literally no evidence left.”

“Have they accused you of drug use, then?” Ara asks, leaning her back against the headboard, and Kai grabs her hand, playing with her fingers.

“Nope, they had no proof.” Ara smiles and nods, taking in Kai’s tired face, the heavy bags under his eyes, and she wonders if he has even gotten any sleep.

“You look tired,” she murmurs, and Kai looks up, eyebrows arched. Ara sighs and scoots to the side, and Kai gives her a curious look before shrugging and climbing onto the bed, lying down on his side so he fits on the rather small bed.

Ara curls up next to him, his arm around her waist, and she nestles her face into his neck, smiling in content. The only sound in the room is their soft breathing and the beeping of the IV-machine, and Ara closes her eyes, basking in the feeling of Kai’s fingers tracing circles on her arm.

They stay like that for a while, and Kai eventually falls asleep. Ara allows the drowsiness to take over, and it’s not until three in the afternoon that she’s woken up by multiple voices speaking near them.

She cracks an eye open, her face still nestled into Kai’s neck, and she smiles at the feeling of having his arms around her before turning her head to find the source of the noises. Sehun and Tao stop talking and