“I told you it was too much too soon.” Umma said, closing the door behind her and taking a seat on Kris’ bed. He hadn’t gotten up since his fight with Lay, and he had no intention of doing so until he had to. “You’re lucky Tao didn’t hear any of that. I mean, they all heard the yelling, but no one really knows what you two were arguing about. Perks of thick walls, I suppose.”

“How do you know what we were fighting about, then?” Kris asked, turning his head slightly to look at her. This wasn’t the conversation he had been expecting. He had already made peace with having lost this place to live.

“Lay tells Umma everything.” Umma said, running her fingers through Kris’ hair. “Kind of like how you don’t tell Umma anything.”

Kris closed his eyes, sighing softly. “I’m sorry.”

“For not talking to me, or for making Lay cry?” She asked. “Because in either case, I don’t want your apology, but in one I can think of someone else you kind of owe it to.”

“When am I leaving?” Kris asked, feeling more and more confused the more she spoke. She sighed, raising a brow at him.

“Really, now. Do you think so little of your Umma?” She asked, chuckling and patting Kris’ side to make him sit up. After a long moment, he did, and she wrapped him up in his arms. “The world doesn’t need to come grinding to a halt just because you’re not ready to deal with something. It’s okay, Kris. It really is.”

Kris felt his breath catching in his chest, the spiderwebs of anxiety that had been lingering there all morning were suddenly tightening, refusing him air. Umma smiled sadly and hugged him a little closer.

“I know you don’t cry, maybe because you think it makes you stronger, but you’re falling apart at the seams baby.” She pointed out, and Kris tensed, but she kept talking. “Of course, I would be the first one to notice it. I’m a mom, after all.”

Kris swallowed hard, his head dropping onto her shoulder after a long internal battle, and she rocked him gently.

“I really would like it if you would apologize to your brother though. I don’t like seeing my boys upset, and you’re both hurting from this.” She said, nodding seriously. Kris nodded.

“Yes, Umma.” He said softly, agreeing right away.

“If you ever do decide to cry, you can come to me too. I’ll hug you just like this and we’ll get through it together. Fair?” She asked, and Kris nodded dumbly, his eyes still too wide.

“I-I’m not being kicked out?” Kris asked, still not quite understanding.

“No, you’re not baby.” Umma said softly. “What’s the longest you’ve ever stayed in one place?”

“Six months.” Kris whispered. Umma smiled.

“Then, at six months and a day, maybe you’ll see that there’s nothing to be afraid of.” She said softly, kissing his head and standing up. “Take your time coming out, but don’t hide all day, okay?” Kris nodded, panting slightly. “I don’t know how good you are with storms, either, but we’re supposed to get one tonight.”

“Storms?” Kris echoed. I am a storm. He thought, his eyes closing.

“Yeah. Just some thunder and lightening as far as I can tell.” She said, smiling at him softly and opening the door to step out. She paused, though, looking back with her hand on the knob. “In the interest of being a polite host, I haven’t sent anyone home. If you need me to, though, my duty as a mother is more important to me.”

“No...no, you don’t have to do that..” Kris said softly, staring at his hands. They were shaking again.

“I’ll make some tea.” She said, smiling softly and stepping out the door. She closed it behind her, which Kris was grateful for, because he needed a few minutes to let this anxiety run its course.

He pressed his face into his pillow and let the emotions run there course, reassuring himself silently again and again that he was still okay. He was still safe. The world wasn’t ending.

The door opened.

“Lay-” Kris started, turning his head. He was used to Lay barging in when he was having a panic attack, but it wasn’t him.

“Luhan, but you got the ‘L’ right, and we’re both Chinese, so I’ll let it slide.” Luhan said, plopping on the bed and laying back, draping himself over Kris like they were friends or something. Were they?

“What do you want?” Kris finally asked.

“I want you to tell me what your intentions are with my fiance’s little brother.” Luhan said, his elbow digging into Kris’ spine as he shifted around. Kris had a feeling it was intentional, but that angel face had him questioning himself a moment later.

“I don’t have any intentions.” Kris said. “I’m tutoring him.”

“Yeah, and I’m a .” Luhan said, rolling his eyes. “Try again. What are your feelings for Tao?”

“Feelings?” Kris asked, looking even more confused, and somewhat flustered by the flippant mention of Luhan’s life. “Why does everyone assume I have feelings for him?”

“We’re not. We just know he has them for you, and we need to know if he’s about to get his heart broken.” Luhan said. Kris swallowed hard.

“Find him someone else. Anyone else would be better than me.” Kris said, dropping his head back on the pillow.

“So you do care about him.” Luhan said.

“I didn’t say that.” Kris said, looking frustrated.

“You didn’t need to. If you didn’t care about him you’d be telling me to mind my own business and you would use Tao to get whatever you want and then dump him on your way out the door.” Luhan said. “You told me to find someone better. That means you care.”

“Use him for what?” Kris asked, and Luhan looked at Kris for a long moment before his eyes widened.

“So Lay wasn’t kidding. You really are a .” Luhan said, and Kris looked like he might actually kick Luhan, if the angle was a little more convenient. And if he could convince himself being mean to Luhan was possible. It was getting a little easier with this conversation though. “Jesus, have you ever even dated before?”

“I told Lay, I’ve never done anything with anyone.” Kris said, his tone guarded. “I also pointed out that I never said I was gay.”

“Oh, honey, you don’t need to say it.” Luhan said, patting Kris’ back in what he assumed was supposed to be a comforting manner.

“I’m liking you less and less, LuLu.” Kris said through gritted teeth, and Luhan laughed, the tinkling angelic sound suddenly seeming to carry dark undertones.

“Ah, you’re working yourself up over nothing.” Luhan said, humming. “Just promise that when you do finally pull your head out of your , you’ll tell me just how loud the pop was.”

Kris blinked several times, watching as Luhan walked out of the room again, and he finally sat up, having completely and utterly lost track of his anxiety in the sheer confusion Luhan had caused him. What was he even talking about?

Still looking for people to do the RP with if anyone is interested ^^