Tao had just finished his fifth period Algebra class and was still sitting in his seat waiting for the room to clear out. Gently pushing his glasses back up on his nose using the knuckle of his forefinger, he began organizing his notes and textbooks. Taking a deep breathe he began piling his books up neatly in his arms to head to his next class, never liking to have to stop at his locker in between periods, and nervously waited for the small crowd at the door to disperse. He casually turned his gaze to the window, not wanting the group of students at the door to know he was waiting on them lest they decide to take it as a sign to start something, and watched the sky for a few long moments.

Getting impatient he nervously on his lower lip as the group still hovered in the doorway. Finally gathering up what little courage he had, he made his way to the door with his head bowed and shoulders hunched.

"Excuse me," his soft voice was barely heard but at least one person in the group got the message and stepped back so he could quickly squeeze through.

His happiness at avoiding unwanted attention was short-lived, however, as he tripped over somebody's foot and went sprawling into the hallway, his books making a loud slam as they hit the floor in front of him.

Feeling his heart beat heavily in his chest at the embarrassment, he gathered his books as quickly as he could and calmly walked down the hallway as to not cause any more of a scene. The amused chuckles of his classmates echoed down the hall, following him until he could finally reach his last class for the day.

English wasn't what Tao would call his best subject, but it was still a class he could appreciate due to it's necessity in the world. Well, that and the fact that one of the worlds most attractive creatures was also in the class.

He quickly made his way into the classroom, brushing by a certain attractive tall figure standing in the middle of his row, and shuffled his way to the last seat by the window. Knowing he'd inadvertently made contact with Kris, the Kris, he felt himself become warm and at the same time scolded himself for feeling anything for one of the top athletes in the school. It was bad enough that Kris was a talented soccer player, but added on to the fact that Tao had a tiny microscopic crush on him was the fact that he was a he. Not that being gay was a big deal, but it's not like just because it's okay means every guy is gay or open to being the object of affection from a member of the same .

Tao let out a small sigh and glanced towards Kris, not for the first time that day, simply to appreciate his tall muscular figure. Was it his fault that he had a thing for tall, imposing, dominant males?

Mentally smacking himself for the millionth time that day, Tao didn't notice the small glance Kris made towards him from his seat in the middle row, nor did he notice the suspicious stares from the same classmates who'd been in the hallway when he'd tripped.

45 long minutes of English passed by without incident. Tao spent half the class struggling to pay attention and the other half beating himself up for stealing glances at Kris.

In an attempt to avoid the same situation as his previous class, Tao quickly gathered his belongings and tried to get out of the classroom first. He was ready to go home, ready to relax in his room and meditate, and possibly daydream about a certain attractive soccer player.

Reaching his relatively close locker, Tao opened it up and placed the books he didn't need for the night inside.

After shutting his locker, Tao hitched his backpack up on his right shoulder and turned around, ready to start his walk home. Unfortunately, he came face to face with one of the few people in the school who took joy in causing him pain.

Zhang Yixing.

Tao only paused a moment before attempting to swiftly move past Yixing. He didn't want to end his day like this.

After barely moving a few inches past Yixing, he felt himself get roughly pushed against the lockers, Yixing's hand on his shoulder.

"Now, now, Tao baby. You should know better than that," Yixing said in a tone reminding Tao of a scolding mother.

"Ah, Yixing, I just want to go home. Please," Tao softly said, priding himself on at least holding in a whimper. Despite his studying Wushu for most of his life, he refused to fight, and simply tried general politeness to stay out of peoples way. Unfortunately, Yixing likes trouble more than he likes peace.

"Lay. I go by Lay, Tao. You know that," Yixing emphasized this with another rough push, the paddle lock on the locker behind Tao digging sharply into his back.

Tao let out a small hiss and once again tried to move away from Yixing. He may be a pacifist, but he wasn't one to lie down and take it either. He could at least hold on to what shred of dignity he had left.

Dodging Yixing successfully, Tao booked it down the hallway running as fast and as far as his feet could take him. Common sense told him to head out the front doors, but he was already in the opposite direction and the stairs to the second floor were in sight. Not taking a moment to contemplate, he began heading up the flight of stairs, his Wushu training giving him the comfort of a steady pace and breathing. Within moments he had reached the second floor and without daring to look behind him, headed towards the second open classroom he saw.

Darting inside, he quickly backed away from the door and crouched down, only moments later hearing the cursing Yixing's footsteps run by. Letting out a sigh of relief he took account of the room and was thankful to see that it was empty.

He didn't quite know why Yixing disliked him so much. Tao couldn't recall a moment where he could have offended him or could have generally made himself a target for Yixing's bullying. But then again, did a bully really need a reason?

After straining his hearing to make sure he didn't hear any footsteps, Tao decided it was safe enough to peek out of the door and try to make a run for home.

Giving the hall a final look, he slowly stepped out waiting for any sudden movements to signal Yixing's presence, and then headed straight for the stairs once again. Taking the steps by two, Tao ran back the way he came, passing his locker and a couple of students who only gave him a moments glance.

He went past the gyms and down another hallway that was nearly deserted. A half hour had already passed since he'd encountered Yixing. Slowing down, but still cautious, Tao stuck to the wall as he turned into yet another hallway finally getting closer to the exit. Why the school had so many hallways and just a few exits, he'll never know, but it was incredibly inconvenient.

Suddenly the hair on the back of Tao's neck raised and he had only a second to prepare before he was pushed into another wall of lockers, his head hitting first making a loud clang echo down the hall. Tao let out a small whimper but otherwise managed to clench his teeth against the pain and looked up at Yixing who was breathing heavily with a red face.

"Tch, Tao. You should know by now that I don't enjoy playing hide and seek. I'd much rather play tag." And with that, Yixing kneed Tao in the stomach and threw him to the ground. Still breathing heavily from all the running, he picked Tao up and slammed him up against the lockers again, unknowingly against a jagged metal edge that stuck out from one. Yixing pulled Tao once more, seemingly enjoying throwing him against walls.

Tao let out a high pitched whimper when the jagged edge of the locker finally cut through him, leaving a four inch gash along his left side. He tried his hardest not to cry out of pain in front of Yixing but felt the hot tears run out of his eyes against his will.

"Aw, poor Tao. Such a soft little boy. You know, such young children shouldn't stare so hard at big boys. It's disgusting. Kris gets uncomfortable when you look at him with your bug eyes."

Tao felt his heart beating rapidly again out of humiliation. He'd thought he was so subtle, thought that no one knew of his feelings, thought he was just invisible enough.

"I...I don't st-" Tao was quickly silenced by Yixing shoving him against the locker once again. He couldn't help letting out a groan when he felt another, smaller, slice against his left side. He leaned over in pain and just decided to stay quiet and let him finish.

"Yixing!" A loud voice echoed down the hallway and the two quickly turned to see who would bother interrupting.

"Kris!" Suddenly, Yixing's voice became sweet towards towards his classmate and he loosened his hold on Tao. Apparently he had no problem with the older boy calling him by his given name.

Tao couldn't look Kris in the eyes. Not only was the object of his affections in front of him, but he just had to be there when he was being bullied. Along with the sharp pains coming from his head and his side Tao could now feel shame take over his heart and could do nothing else but look away.

He could hear Kris speaking to Yixing but all he heard was his deep tone, the throbbing pain having taken most of his attention, and he took his chance to wander off down the hallway towards a bathroom. He remembered keeping super glue and wrappings with him, just in case things got out of hand again. Ghetto, yes, but effective nonetheless.

In the words of Franz Kafka, “Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have.”

Feeling himself get even more lightheaded, Tao finally reached the bathroom and was thankful to see all of the stalls open and the room completely empty of male students.

Putting his bag on the counter, he reached for some paper towels to help staunch the bleeding, and with his free hand began digging through his bag for the super glue and wraps. So focused in his search, Tao didn't notice a new presence in the room, and instead attempted to open the bottle of super glue with one hand.

Suddenly there was a large warmth on his side and Tao stilled, hoping Yixing hadn't come to let even more anger out on him. Instead, when Tao looked in the mirror, he saw the tall form of Kris behind him. Feeling his heart start it's rapid beating once more, he tried to move away from his hand and turn around.

"Don't. Here, let me." With that Kris gently lifted Tao to sit on the counter and kneeled in front of him. He lifted his shirt to take a closer look at his wounds and his brows furrowed in what looked like concern. Which confused Tao seeing as for all he knew Kris didn't even know of his existence.

Tao let out an uneven breathe when he felt Kris touch his bare skin. He was so warm and despite the pain, Tao could feel the tiniest bit of pleasure come from where Kris' hand was touching him. Kris gently removed the bloody paper towels and gave a small hiss when he saw the cuts.

"I'm so sorry. I never knew. I never even thought that you would be going through this." Kris looked at him then, looked straight into his eyes and raised his left hand to slightly caress Tao's uninjured side.

"I didn't even..." Kris just let out a deep breath and continued moving his hand gently up and down Tao's right side.

The heat that came from Kris' hand on his bare skin was an intoxicating feeling to Tao. This sort of human contact was a new experience and was something he could already tell would become an addiction. Kris gave one more look to Tao before he began cleaning his cuts with what little supplies were available in the school bathroom. Mainly just water and paper towels.

Taking in a shaky breathe, Tao tried to speak, tried to say something that would make this situation make sense. Perhaps make the situation seem better.

"Ah..It's not your fault," he finally found something to say. He thought for a moment that this was the first thing he'd ever actually said to Kris. And once again felt shame that this was the sort of situation that Kris became involved in.

"Please just f-forget about what you saw," Tao stuttered embarrassingly as Kris hit a tender spot in his cut.

Letting out a deep breath Tao felt Kris squeeze his right side and blushed as he realized Kris was staring intensely at him.

Kris looked like he was about to say something, but instead chose to finish cleaning the wounds. When Tao went to use the super glue, Kris glared and tossed it into the trash before wrapping his waist and putting his shirt down. Kris let his thumb caress Tao's uninjured side one more time before picking up his backpack and helping him off the counter.

As Tao's feet hit the floor he could feel the pressure from the weight push on his cuts and he let out a small hiss. Before he could even take a step he was suddenly lifted into the air and the next thing he knew he was staring directly into Kris' face as he was being held.

"I can walk. It's okay," Tao softly told him as he tried to get back onto the ground.

Kris merely tightened his hold on him and walked out of the bathroom. Tao quickly looked around to see if anyone was there to see him like this and was relieved to see the corridor was completely deserted.

Deciding to enjoy it while he could, Tao wrapped his arms around Kris' neck and waited for him to speak.

And waited.

Clearing his throat, Tao worked up the courage to ask him a question instead.

"Um, where are we going?" He was still nervous seeing as within a day he went from being bullied and invisible to being carried by a more-than-perfect man like he was in a fairy tale. It was all beyond ridiculous while at the same time being completely amazing, despite the fact that he was in pain.

"My house, it's close and I have better supplies to take care of you," Kris' voice came out soft but abrupt. He had a no-nonsense tone that basically meant Tao couldn't say no even if he wanted to.

Which he didn't.

Because despite the pain in his body, he was being carried by Kris. The Kris. The Kris he'd been crushing on since he'd first set eyes on him.

"Ah, okay."

After that there was just comfortable silence and Tao soon found out that Kris wasn't lying. His house was really close. It was merely a few blocks away from the school which was really convenient at the moment.

Kris carried Tao into his house and up the stairs to his room. After gently setting him on his bed he went into the bathroom and left Tao for a few moments.

Tao looked around at the clean room and curled his hands into the soft comforter on Kris' bed. Kris had a navy blue bed set and light brown walls. Overall the room was comfortable and smelt amazing. It was like a mixture of wood and cinnamon. Which he never knew could smell good together but it was wholly Kris and Tao couldn't deny the attraction to anything related to him.

Kris came out of the bathroom and walked towards Tao. Knowing what he needed to do, he began lifting his shirt just enough to reveal the wounds.

"Take it off. It'll be easier," Kris said in a calm tone.

Tao blushed deeply but did so anyways. Kris got right to unwrapping his wounds and began cleaning them quickly but thoroughly. He was done in a matter of minutes and returned to the bathroom to put the supplies away.

It was only a bit awkward while he was away. Tao didn't know where to go from there. Should he leave? Should he stay? What would they talk about?

He felt himself start to panic and decided it might be best to leave. He slowly got up and made his way to the bathroom, only wincing every few steps.

"Um, Kris? I, uh, I think maybe I should go. Thank you, for everything," Tao, feeling better that he'd thanked him and told him he was leaving, turned around and started heading towards the door.

Suddenly there was a big of a commotion in the bathroom, it sounded like a few things fell, but before Tao could turn around to look there were warm arounds wrapped around him and he turned his head to look into Kris' eyes.

"Please don't go."

Tao turned around and after looking at Kris for a few moments wrapped his arms around him and hugged back.

He nuzzled into Kris' neck and breathed deeply. Kris was warm and big and perfect. He didn't know how they got here and didn't know what exactly was going to happen from then on, but he finally felt at peace.

He never expected this when he woke up this morning, but he knew that just by looking into Kris' eyes and seeing his sincerity, everything was going to be okay.

Because he was no longer alone.

Oh my god. Forgive me.

I'm so dead right now.

I have to sleep. I have work in a few hours and must sleep.

Sorry about this horrible horrible one-shot. I don't know how to fix it. It's my first ever one-shot. Ever.

Forgive me?

Ah, the expectations! I hope you weren't let down too bad. I'm just no good at getting emotions into words without them sounding tacky as hell.

Ugh. I only spell-checked this once. So there shouldn't be too many mistakes. Maybe? /tired

Anyways, here's the Taoris. Thank you to those who subscribed~ I hope it was at least worth a few moments of your time.

I'm off to sleep, finally. ♥ Ilu guys!