Song: My Happy Little Pill by Troye Sivan

Pairing: Baekyeol

Word Count: ~700

Suggested By: authenticauguries

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Baekhyun sighed as the plane wheels made contact with the ground.  He had told himself when he left that he’d never come back, and yet here he was, returning to his hometown after years away.

It had been a split second decision.  Baekhyun had found himself in a bar drinking his fifth cup of something while watching people walk around him and realized that he no longer knew what he was doing.  He had come to the city for a job with delusions of grandeur, but the job was a pain with 60 hour weeks and no overtime pay (Oh the joy of being salaried), and the city wasn’t really all that grand.

Instead, it was cold, colder even than the winter weather that was rolling in to engulf the city, and Baekhyun was freezing.  Freezing to death.  He couldn’t count the number of times he had sat in that bar drinking another shot as he realized that he had no direction and no more goals, nothing, and then, a message popped up on his phone.

Your mom would be really happy if you came home for Christmas.- Chanyeol

Baekhyun stared at his phone in shock, double checking the sender a couple times to make sure he wasn’t crazy, but every time he read it, the name read the same, Chanyeol.  The very same Chanyeol Baekhyun had left behind when he’d gone off to have his grand adventure.  The very same Chanyeol Baekhyun hadn’t heard from since the very day he had left.  That Chanyeol.

Baekhyun’s hand shook as he looked over the words, a smile forming on his face.  Chanyeol telling him to come home to see his mother was so typically Chanyeol, always worrying about making sure everyone around him was happy.  He was good at that, making other people happy.

He had done that for Baekhyun once, a long time ago.  They’d been inseparable, and Chanyeol had been an expert at making Baekhyun laugh, at making him feel alive.  Baekhyun didn’t feel that way anymore.  He felt numb, and as Baekhyun held his phone in his hands and stared at the words in Chanyeol's message, he found himself wanting to see Chanyeol because if anyone could fix that, it had to be him.  It had to be.

Baekhyun had booked his flight and his vacation time that very night.  It was only when he woke up the next morning with a raging headache that it occurred to him that Chanyeol might not want to see him, not after Baekhyun had just up and left him behind the way he had.  Chanyeol had just smiled and waved goodbye because that was who he was, but Baekhyun was sure that it had hurt.  Baekhyun was very sure of that, because it had hurt him, even if he hadn’t realized it at the time.

No, at that time, Baekhyun had been too focused on running forwards, on getting everything he’d ever wanted, and therefore, he’d left everything he’d ever had behind.  

Still, Suho in HR had been so happy when Baekhyun had called about taking vacation that he couldn’t bring himself to cancel his time off, and Baekhyun refused to spend his vacation time holed up in his apartment by himself.  No, he’d bought the ticket.  He might as well go home, and so, Baekhyun had called his parents and told them he was coming home. 

His mom had cried after the words passed his lips, causing Baekhyun to feel extremely guilty about not calling more often.  He made a mental note to call more in the New Year.

Still, he hadn’t texted Chanyeol back.  He was too afraid to, and Chanyeol hadn’t texted again, even though Baekhyun was certain he had to know he was coming since there was no way his mom would have kept something like that to herself.

Baekhyun wasn’t sure what that meant, and as he schlepped his way through the small airport terminal, he was still trying to decide what to do when Chanyeol made the decision for him because it wasn’t his dad standing outside waiting for him, it was Chanyeol.

Chanyeol, who was laughing and smiling before stepping out with a scarf to wrap around Baekhyun’s neck.  “Was it not cold in the city?”  He asked, arms falling naturally to Baekhyun’s shoulders.

“It was freezing.”  Baekhyun answered back, eyes not leaving Chanyeol’s face.

Chanyeol sighed and lowered his arms down to Baekhyun’s sides, pulling him forward into an embrace.  “Are you warmer now?”

Baekhyun nodded against Chanyeol’s chest as his arms looped around his back. 

He was warmer. 

He was home.

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…it’s actually a drabble… a few more of these are coming in the following days.  It has nothing to do with how much I love you guys, I promise, I’m just a bit pressed for time with finals, and my writer’s block is acting up a bit *sigh*