“Rise and shine sleepyhead, it’s a beautiful morning!”

Yixing groans at the sound of Luhan’s voice, his head pounding as stabs of pain ricochet across his skull. His entire body feels like a sack of stones attached to his neck and he can barely able to lift his head off the pillow. He keeps his eyes closed, giving up the effort to move at all and almost forgets that Luhan was even there until he feels the blankets being ripped off his body.

“Come on, get up! I wanna go check out that new store that opened, maybe I’ll get a new pair of shoes,” Luhan shakes Yixing’s shoulder pleadingly, trying to rouse him. 

It feels like there’s an earthquake inside his head and it takes Yixing a moment to let it settle with a groan before mumbling into his pillow;

“I’m tired.”

“You slept like eight hours.”

“I know but, just– ” Yixing twists his head, finally cracking his eyes open a sliver to look up at Luhan, wincing at the sunlight pouring in through the window; “I dunno, I just feel so tired and literally everything hurts. my head feels like I ran into a wall.”

He struggles to keep his gaze focused on Luhan, feeling his eyelids drooping and rapidly losing the fight to keep them open as this heavy curtain of fatigue weighs on him. It’s not just that his back is flaring up, nor is it just the burn in his legs or the heaviness in his arms. He’s tired. Spent and weary right to the bone. He just doesn’t feel like getting out of bed at all today, of all days, much less go outside. Though at this point, it seems more like he can’t get out of bed. He’s tired. 

Luhan blinks at him for a moment before he turns on his heel and leaves the room wordlessly. Sighing, Yixing buries his face in his pillow again, letting his body sag completely against the mattress. Figures he’d feel like utter crap on their only day off.

He drifts in and out of sleep, dozing off only to be pulled out of it by a sharp twinge of discomfort up his aching spine or a prickle of pain right behind his eyes. The pounding in his head echoes like a drum before he registers the approaching footsteps with surprise. 

Luhan rounds the bed again to sit on the edge of the mattress, holding out his hand to offer a couple of painkillers and handing him a glass of cool water. 

Struggling to sit up, Yixing blinks up at him but takes them gratefully at Luhan’s encouraging nod, washing them down and soothing the dryness of his throat. He reaches out to set the glass on his nightstand, grimacing at the way his hand shakes at the effort. 

Slumping back down, he’s unable to hold in the sigh that rips from his throat as he curls into himself. The weight on the mattress hasn’t shifted and Yixing looks up to find Luhan still sitting there, much to his chagrin, raising a rather expectant eyebrow at him.  

“What?” Yixing’s brows knit together, feeling upset as a lump forms in his throat, both from his exhaustion and his inability to find the words to explain himself. 
 
Rolling his eyes, Luhan tugs back the blanket he’d pulled off earlier, covering Yixing up to his shoulder as he holds on to one corner. 

“Well scoot over, d’you think I’m gonna fit on this inch of space you’ve left me?” Luhan flaps the blanket for emphasis, nudging Yixing with his fingers to shift over to the other side of the mattress. 

Climbing in when there’s enough space, Luhan flops down on his side facing Yixing, tugging up the blanket right to their chins. The bed is small, only made for one person, but they make it work; the warmth of their bodies beneath the cover is toasty enough to be comfortable against the icy bite of the winter morning. Their knees and elbows brush together, breathing in each other’s space as they both share the same pillow. Luhan settles down, sighing contently but Yixing fixes him with a stare, the lines creasing his forehead only deepening. He can’t be selfish here; not when they have so little golden opportunities of temporary freedom in this life they’ve thrown themselves into. 

“You’re wasting your free day, you know,” he starts, waiting for Luhan to meet his eyes. 

“Getting another couple of hours to lay in bed and rest isn’t a waste,” Luhan counters simply, curling his fingers around the sheets comfortably. 

Yixing frowns, “What about all your plans?”

“I think I’ve got enough shoes, really,” Luhan grins, his eyes crinkling; “And my plans were to hang out with my best friend and well…here we are! Mission accomplished right?” 

He’s earnest, his usual sincerity burning in the meaning behind his words. Yixing smiles, appreciating what Luhan is trying to do.

In truth, he’s tired too. Yixing can see it, in the shadows falling across Luhan’s face, in the slight dim in the lights of his eyes. They’re all tired. 

They’re not what they once were; thrown into a system that ages them ten times faster before their time. It strains them, pulls and pushes, twists and stretches them thin like a rubber band ready to snap, constantly teetering so close to breaking. It hurts even to thinks about it, to realize how dizzyingly far they’ve come, how much they’ve given up, how much they’ve lost. Sometimes Yixing wonders if the gain can even begin to compare; whether it’s even worth it anymore.

The slender fingers curling around his wrist remind him that, yes, it is worth it. He’ll never be left to stand alone; there are pillars ready to hold him up, to carry him forward. Knowing that even if all else falls apart for him to get to where he’s always wanted to be from the start, there’s someone standing next to him, someone pulling him forward, someone waiting for him right there at the finish line. 

The bond between them all…it’s not perfect. It’s not smooth, by any means, nor is it continuously moving forward. They’re a large group, they clash, they get stuck in a rut, they get thrown back and they get battered before they finally take a step ahead.  At the end of the day, they go to bed drained and boneless but knowing that at least someone’s got their back.

Luhan has Yixing’s back, always has. And Yixing returns his loyalty, his care, his trust. 
Just like this. This is how they get through it, all of them.