Kris felt horrible. It felt as though a part of him had been physically ripped out after Tao’s disappearance. He couldn’t explain the feeling. Nothing made sense anymore. He didn’t know what he was doing. It was like a snail missing its shell. He felt vulnerable, weak, wounded.

Frankly, it scared him. Scared him to have been so close to a stranger like Tao. They’d only been together for- hell, not even a day- and his feelings were already so strong. The only other time he’d felt like that was when Lay broke up with him.

Why had he become like that? Was he really so desperate for attention that he’d turned into an overly-attached monster, getting attached to people he barely knew? Why was he feeling the way he was feeling when Tao came into his life?

Kris rested his forehead against the creaky mattress and sighed. The aching emptiness gnawed away at his heart, pushing all other thoughts out of his mind and leaving only Tao behind. Everything about him suddenly became amplified. The way he’d first shown up on his doorstep, eyes blazing with shock, the way he’d reacted to Kris’s scant clothing, the way his eyes had morphed from angry to docile in minutes, the fact that he could actually see Tao’s emotions through his eyes.

There was more, though. Kris could feel it, somehow. Something that told him he’d only scratched the surface of the whole affair. There were answers to be found, and Kris wanted them.

But he couldn’t. He didn’t have the drive to do anything.

 What’s the point. He told himself lamely. All pain fades after time. Look at Lay. Prime example right there.

Kris ceased all movement and focused on his thoughts. Maybe there was something there, something which would explain.

He found nothing.

The pain took grasp of his heart once again, a wincing hurt that constricted his breathing and caused a warm build-up at the back of his eyes.

He hated it. Hated himself for being so weak, so attached to Tao. There was no explanation as to why he felt like that, like they were connected in some other way or another. If that was true, it had to be an extremely large connection for him to develop feelings like that in a span of less than a day.

Maybe, just maybe, it was predestined.

 Nah. There wasn’t an afterlife, anyway.

Kris pushed down the strange feeling in his chest and staggered upright, gasping and grabbing at the nearby chair that Tao had sat on for support.

As his fingers made contact with the wood, a jolt of something shot through his fingertips, up his arm, right down to his toes.

And in that instant, he knew. He just knew, somehow.

Tao’s back.

***

Hands sliding, feet slipping, sweat dripping from his brow, Kris dashed down the stairs, nearly tripping in the middle, and made a hairpin turn into the living room. An unknown force was guiding him, telling him where to go. He didn’t think too much about it at that point, simply followed the feeling of it.

Lying on the floor, still shimmering a bit, was Tao. He was wearing Kris’s shirt and pants, still, and looked no different from before he disappeared.

Kris didn’t know how or why Tao had suddenly appeared again, all he could think and feel at the moment was immense relief. It gushed through him like a tsunami, sweeping away the biting ache in his chest and destroying any worries he had. The strength of it all knocked him to his knees.

“Tao.” He gasped and grasped the teen’s hand in his. Tao still felt cold to the touch, but to Kris’s relief, he was starting to warm up.

“Oh God, you’re back. I thought you were gone. Forever.”

At Kris’s words, Tao’s eyelids started twitching. Slowly, he opened them.

Kris froze at the look in them. They were hardy, strong, with a touch of steel. Tao sat up, groaning and clutching at his forehead.

“Tao? What’s wrong.” Kris shifted closer, but was stopped by Tao’s hand on his wrist. Kris shrunk back a bit as Tao regarded him with his hardened gaze.

There was a tense silence for a second, then the stony mask seemed to melt away on Tao’s face, leaving a face painted with the faint colours of apprehension, determination, and… acknowledgement.

“We…We need to talk.”

*:･ﾟ✧ﾟ･: *

So these last few chapters (and the next one) should explain the main gist of the story. The drama and action (I hope) will come later ^__^ 

God, I love writing this so much.

Thank you all so much for subscribing and leaving comments! It really means a lot, even though I don't usually respond ^^"

Yeah, don't be shy to leave questions in the comments...I'll be more than happy to answer them (◡‿◡✿)