XO High played against two schools over six weeks and they were moving on to the semifinals.

The team was allowed to take the Friday off of school because they had to spend the day bussing to a different school for the semifinals.

When Tao woke up in the middle of the bus ride, he smiled when he saw that his head was on Kris’ shoulder. Kris was sleeping, so Tao pulled Kris’ head onto his shoulder. Tao was kissing Kris’ head when he heard Kris’ phone ringing. Tao saw a strange number, but picked it up before Kris could wake up. “Hello?”

“Hello. Who is this?”

“Umm… Tao…”

“This is Kris’ phone number, right?”

Tao wondered who the guy on the other line was, “Uhh, yeah. Why?”

“Can I speak to Kris?”

“He’s uh, still sleeping,” Tao mentally smacked himself in the head. That totally came out weird sounding. Not that Tao was thinking dirty, that is.

“Oh, um, sorry for uhh, interrupting you guys.”

“N-no, you’re not. We’re sleeping together on a bus. No! I mean, not like that. But like, ugh,” Tao face palmed. “Do you want to leave a message?”

“I’m… Kevin Wu.”

Tao’s mouth fell open as he slowly whispered, “Br-brother?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m uhh, your brother in law? I-I never got the memo that Kris got married…”

“N-no!” Tao was completely mortified. “I’m so retarded!” Tao felt like burying himself twenty feet under the ground.

“Pardon me? You said you were… retar – ?”

“We’re not married yet! I mean no, uh, we’re just not.”

“Oh, well, I just wanted to tell you that…” Kevin began to tell the message he wanted Tao to give Kris.

“I-I…” Tao quivered. “But, after what happened?”

“You know about it?” Kevin inquired. “You must be really special to Kris.”

“I-I don’t know. I-I… can I tell him later? I don’t know if he can take it right now.”

“But…”

“Please, don’t call back. At least not until Sunday,” Tao pleaded. “I’ll talk to him… soon.”

“O-okay. Thank you.”

The call ended.

“What is it?” Baekhyun asked softly.

Tao only shook his head, “No, nothing.” Over the time he and Kris had been together, Kris would sometimes reveal tidbits about his family, letting Tao learn more about Kris. Tao knew that no matter how bitter Kris sounded, he still loved his family at heart.

“Does it have to do with…” Lay waved at Kris.

Tao looked away. He couldn’t answer, but his actions told the rest of people on the bus the answer.

Kris suddenly shuffled on Tao’s shoulder and hummed.

“Oh, Kris, did you just get up?” Tao had a panicked look on his face when he looked at Kris, whose eyes did not open.

“Mmmmm,” Kris mumbled as he rested his head on Tao’s chest and threw his arm around Tao’s waist.

Tao let out a nervous chuckle as Kris intertwined his hands with Tao’s.

“Hmmm, your heart is racing,” Kris smiled.

Tao tried to still his heart, but he was still afraid that Kris may have been awake and would wonder about the conversation.

“Are you still that nervous around me?” Kris teased.

Tao’s heart finally stilled. It didn’t sound like Kris suspected anything. “Stop flattering yourself,” Tao chuckled as he ran his fingers from his free hand through Kris locks. “Get off me, you’re heavy.”

Kris chuckled as he got off and stretched, “Are we almost there?”

“Almost,” Luhan chirped.

Kris nodded, “Okay. Short break when we get there, then we go over our strategy. The game is at noon tomorrow.”

******************************

It was time to sleep and everyone parted with their roommates. Kris looked at Tao, who was pacing around, “Nervous?