Even though he had agreed to meet Kris at six o’clock, Chanyeol was hovering around the door from five in what he hoped didn’t look like too eager fashion. He was forever way too early for everything that he really wanted to go through and Kyungsoo constantly told him off for doing it but there was nothing that he could do in order to help it. He just liked to be early and seeing that he had already spent the morning doing lectures and most of his lunch time in the library getting his homework clear so that he didn’t have it lingering over his head like some kind of bad omen, Chanyeol thought that he had more than enough reason to be early.

Especially since it allowed him to get home and change into something that would have him looking good even if he was being quite casual. This wasn’t strictly speaking a date, as in going out with a boyfriend date, it was just a way of him thanking the other for finding and returning his book but by all that was heavenly bodies he really wanted this to go further. He wanted to charm the taller man with the apparent ice armour and melt him down into a happy pile of playful puppy goo that he just knew the other could be. How he knew this always sort of alluded Chanyeol but he was determined to make things work out no matter what he had to do.

To pass the time, he had started to play a game on his phone so it came as no surprise that he jumped when a figure coughed above him. Of course, because he forgot that the small fact that he was actually leaning against a bike railing instead of a proper seat the sudden movement made him loose his balance and go half tumbling to the floor with an undignified yell. Thankfully Kris leant down to grab him so it wasn’t so much of a painful landing but in his panic he had latched onto the others collar and they ended up in a sort of tumbled heap. Strangely Kris just burst out laughing, “Well that’s one way to start off things,” he giggled and Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile back. It was strange, normally he would have flushed completely red at such antics because he hated being clumsy but with Kris it just felt all too natural.

Something stirred in the back of his head, but the thought was gone the second that he tried to focus on it properly. Shaking his head, he chuckled, “Well I suppose you could say that.”

“I can and I will,” Kris said, wondering why this situation wasn’t beyond awkward given that he had been avoiding the other for so long but opting to go with the flow, “So where do you want to go?”

“Hmmm,” Chanyeol replied as he dusted down his jeans, subconsciously noticing the fact that Kris’s trainers had spots of red on them but knowing instinctively not to comment on such a thing, “How about Snoopies down the road? I know you’re probably sick of coffee by now but…”

Kris looked a little pale but smiled, “I love Snoopies…”

Chanyeol grinned brightly, “Excellent. Had a feeling that you would. Then there we will go.”

Nodding, Kris followed the overly excited boy, feeling hi heart break. He shouldn’t have agreed to this, shouldn’t have said that he would only go for one date with this adorable, giant troll. Yes he wanted to be selfish, wanted to have just one night alone with the other but already he felt it. Felt the pain in his heart because already he didn’t want to let Chanyeol go, he didn’t want to go back to that loneliness and constant fear. It had been less than a minute since this whole thing had started and already it was too much.

However he smiled for the boy as he babbled on about something Kris had no idea about and hoped that his despair wasn’t beginning to show through or that too many memories were rushing to the forefront of his mind.

“Hey, earth to Kris,” a hand waving in front of his face finally brought him out of his little mental aside and the large blond haired boy blinked owlishly at the grinning troll opposite him, “You’re not supposed to space out on me you know?”

A bit hard to do when you are bringing so much back to me Kris thought with just a twinge of bitterness but pushed it aside as he chuckled lightly towards the other, “Sorry, just really long day.”

Chanyeol smiled, “I can see, you got bags under your eyes.”

Kris blanched, he thought he had covered up with enough foundation to stop such a thing from being easy to spot but Chanyeol just chuckled, “Oh don’t worry, most wouldn’t notice such a thing, but I can see it.”

“Oh really?” Kris smirked back, aware that they were in Snoopies and that he had no real recollection of them getting in there either, “How would you know that?”

“Cause I’m magic,” Chanyeol said cheekily, causing Kris’s heart to break just a little bit more before he chuckled, “Oh don’t pull that face on me Kris, I’m kidding.”

“Then how do you know?” Kris asked hesitantly, almost as if he shouldn’t be breeching the subject.

Chanyeol gave him another smirk, “Been watching you a long while. Other than the fact that my two friends worked there, you were the only reason that I went into that blasted coffee shop.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kris asked.

“It’s horrible,” Chanyeol said softly, “The coffee is cheap, the pastries are only nice when Kyungsoo is allowed to make them, Yixing is about the only person who can get an order right and you are not only handsome but you know exactly how to make my hot chocolates perfectly to the way that I like them.”

“Only cause you would to me if I didn’t,” Kris muttered under his breath as he looked down at the table top and shook his head, “I’m not that good,” he spoke aloud to Chanyeol, hoping that he could potentially get the other off his happy virus train for a few seconds.

Though he should have remembered just why he called Chanyeol the Happy Virus, “No, you’re right. You’re not good. You’re excellent and are so totally worth more than that whole place put together,” he paused for a second, “Excluding Xing and Soo of course.”

Kris had to pass the sentence off, there was no need to get too deep at the moment, “Yeah, those two are godsends.”

Chanyeol smiled gently, shaking his head as he spotted a waitress coming back towards their table, “Oh hope you don’t mind but I placed an order for you, you were so out of it that I couldn’t rouse you so I went with what I thought you would like.”

“Thanks,” Kris said, really beginning to think that maybe he had bitten off far more than he could chew in this situation but finding himself blinking in surprise as the order was placed in front of him. A plate of snoopies mini cookies with extra chocolate dipping sauce and a glass of warm milk with strawberry sprinkles on it. He blinked in surprise because there was no way that Chanyeol should even know what he liked to order at Snoopies, he shouldn’t even know that Kris adored coming to the cartoon themed restaurant because he didn’t remember anything. Hell he didn’t even recognise him properly so what the hell was with all of this?

Still he forced out a smile towards the other, “This is…well…nice.”

“It’s a bit silly I know,” Chanyeol grinned, “But I thought you would like it.”

Kris nodded, not knowing where to start in the slightest as his brain went into overdrive, thinking back to the car crash and all of the worries and fear in the long hours spent waiting in the hospital only to be informed that Chanyeol had lost virtually all of his memories. The hurt of walking into the room and not being recognised, whilst the others were and coming to the realisation that he had been forgotten, abandoned and left by the other. Kris had understood at the time that it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t have predicted that things would escalate the way that they did but it hadn’t been easy to just let go and have no contact. It hadn’t stopped him hurting and feeling as thought he had been thrown into the darkness to be swallowed up and consumed just like his little brother had not months before this insane attack.

Now suddenly Chanyeol was taking him out to a place where they had always loved to go together and had ordered the two things that Kris always loved getting off the menu because normally he couldn’t afford it. It made no sense to Kris, this was just supposed to be a drink or two and then a gentle let down for Chanyeol so that he could up and move on with his life but now it was bringing to the forefront everything that he had been feeling for the past few years and it was terrifying. But not in a bad way. It was almost like the adorable puppy across from him was trying to tell him something, trying to get a reaction out of him but Kris didn’t know what sort of reaction to give in the slightest.

“Thank you,” Kris said, picking up a cookie, “You must have been watching me for a long time to think I would like this sort of thing.”

“You don’t like this,” Chanyeol said softly, “You love it.”

Kris gave the other a look, “What do you mean?”

“You love this place,” Chanyeol said softly, “You love the cookies and milk from here. You love it because it’s cute and childish and you can pretend to be a little kid again. But you don’t come in here…you stay away from it, don’t you?”

A shudder went through Kris, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do,” Chanyeol said softly, not even touching his cup of chocolate latte, “You know very well what I’m talking about.”

“You been stalking me or something?” Kris said, trying to lighten the mood with a half-hearted joke but not quite putting the effort into the words. He was getting more and more creped out by this conversation and this whole situation and part of him just wanted to turn and run.

Chanyeol shook his head, “No.”

“Then why are you saying these things to me?” Kris said, “You don’t know me. I’m just…” the upcoming words felt like bitter poison on his lips, “I’m a coffee shop boy. Nothing else. I’m worthless.”

Chanyeol sighed, “You’re not worthless.”

Kris was stunned, gently shaking his head even though it hurt to do so, “You really don’t know me. I’m not worth anything.”

“Yes you are,” Chanyeol said softly, lowering his voice softly, “You’re worth more than you give yourself credit for.”

Kris sighed, “Please…just stop.”

“Why?” Chanyeol asked, looking a little bit on the sad side.

“Whoever you think I am, I’m not him Chanyeol,” tears were beginning to pool in his eyes and Kris realised that his only way out was to hurt the other, “I’m something that you should really stay away from and I see that now.”

“Why?” Chanyeol asked again, “Why should I stay away from you?”

“Because you’ll only get hurt again,” Kris said, shaking his head and failing to stop one of the tears from trickling down from his eyes, “and I’ll get hurt worse as well.”

Chanyeol shook his head, “No…that’s not going to happen.”

“Yes it is,” Kris said softly, lowering his head and shaking it, making a grab for his bag, “You don’t need me Chanyeol, I shouldn’t have come tonight. I should have stayed away, I’m sorry,” more tears welled up in his eyes as he made to get up off the table. He had to run, had to get away before he really broke down into loud uncontrollable sobbing. He was being a coward, he knew he was but he didn’t want to put up with this, didn’t want to be reminded of a past that he had once shared with the other and knew that he could never get back.

Life wasn’t like it was in the movies, miracles didn’t happen and it would be better for them both if he just accepted that fact and got the hell out of there. Kris got up and headed quickly out of the restaurant, praying that he could just get away.

“Wait!” Chanyeol said, catching up and latching onto his wrist and seemingly oblivious to the odd stares that he was getting from some of the other customers entering the cafe, “Don’t go.”

Kris shook his head, “its better this way Chanyeol, I’ll only get you hurt again. Please, let me go…” weakly he tried to pull his hand out of the others, only to find that the grip had tightened to two hands.

“But you can’t go now, Jiaheng,” Chanyeol said softly, “Not now.”

Kris’s head shot up in surprise, staring towards Chanyeol in complete and total shock, “What?”

“That’s your name isn’t it?” Chanyeol said, sounding a whole lot more serious now than he had done before, “You’re real name…or at least the one that you had in high school.”

“What?” Kris could only ask again, feeling as though he was watching this all through some kind of movie screen because this wasn’t his life. Not in the slightest. Miracles didn’t happen.

Chanyeol looked at him earnestly, “You’re Li Jiaheng, you were Captain of the basketball team and you had a baby brother by the name of Tao. You had a fan club ran by the girls at our school but you were always the cold prince towards them and a big dork with me and Soo and Yixing. You don’t admit it but you love watching Disney movies, have a collection of plushi’s that rivals any little kids in the world and you had a puppy by the name of Jordan.”

Familiarity washed over Kris like a wave in the ocean and he stared dumbfounded at Chanyeol, “But…but…how? You…you forgot…you didn’t…”

Chanyeol sighed, smiling as he pulled out the puppy book which he had been so desperate to get back from the Coffee Shop earlier on, “Do you know what this is?”

“It’s a notebook with a puppy on it,” Kris deadpanned because it was the only thing that came to mind right at this second.

“It’s more than that,” Chanyeol said, still keeping a tight grip on Kris with one hand with the book held in another, “It’s us.”

“What?” Kris was now thoroughly confused and starting to get beyond terrified.

Chanyeol sighed, “This book is us…it’s everything that we ever did together. All of our shared memories, all of our dates and the sweet nothings that we whispered to one another.”

“It’s impossible,” Kris said, shaking his head, “Just…”

“Ace,” Chanyeol whined, knowing that he had to pull on something that only Kris would understand and the old nickname seemed to be a good place to start, “Please just listen to me. I didn’t lose this notebook, I just happened to leave it in the shop because I knew that you would find it and keep it rather than just handing it in to the manager. I knew that you would go and show it to Tao because you feel guilty as hell for what happened to him and I know that you hide away all the marks that man causes you because you’re terrified that someone will get too close once again and you’ll lose more precious people to you.”

Kris stared, completely at a loss as to what he could say, tears streaming down his face as he carefully placed his free hand on the others cheek, “But…how…when?”

Chanyeol smiled softly, “The amnesia was temporary but it took a long while to piece everything together and it was when I started drinking your hot chocolates that I started thinking and finding out things again. I know it’s cheesy and sappy but it’s what happened,” there was that endearing smile which Chanyeol always gave when he was admitting to doing something foolish, “I’m sorry I left you for so long alone. I just didn’t know if you wanted me back or not.”

Unable to get his mouth to work in the slightest, Kris tried to say something, anything but there was just no cooperation from his lips or mouth and suddenly he just burst into tears and latched his arms around the just about same sized man’s neck. Chanyeol hugged him back tightly, not needing any words to be spoken as he already felt the relief and unspoken joy coming off Kris is waves. Finally he pulled back and raised the others head with his fingers, “Now, I’m going to take you home and get you cleaned up, just the like the old days, okay?”

Kris shook his head, “No. Chanyeol I’m fine.”

“That bastard has been hitting you more and more for the past few weeks,” Chanyeol dead panned, “You came into work twice with a limp after supposedly tripping over a curb and there’s blood stains on your shoes. I’m not scared of your father anymore Jiaheng.”

“He tried to kill you,” Kris said, shaking his head, “He deliberately knocked you over with a stolen car,” panic was beginning to well up in his heart, “I can’t lose you again, not for a second time.”

“And I’m not letting that monster take you away from me either,” Chanyeol said softly, “I promised Tao that I would get you out if I could and now I’ve got the means to do so that is what I am going to do.”

Kris frowned, “When did you promise him that?”

“The day before your father killed him,” Chanyeol said, slowly shaking his head, “I knew Tao just as well as you Jiaheng, I knew that he would never take his own life. I know that you kept your mouth shut because you were terrified of him and after what he did to me…you never wanted to see anyone hurt ever again but this can’t go on. You can’t be punished for his mistakes or his feelings in the matter. You’re strong and brave and god do I love you for continuing on even though you were completely alone in this world but now I’m going to look after you and do the things that I should have done a long time ago.”

There was a moment’s pause, before Kris slumped down to his knees, fresh tears falling from his face and Chanyeol didn’t even pause as he dropped down to his own knees to embrace the crying man and hold him tight. Though a bit of his usual cheerful optimism crept in, “Though of course, this means that you have to be my boyfriend again naturally.”

A light punch to his shoulder indicated that Kris had heard the idiotic statement but he was nodding against Chanyeol’s chest and the tears had changed from sadness to ones of joy. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile, knowing that both Kyungsoo and Yixing were going to kill him when they found out but it was something that he could quite happily take right now as he had Kris back in his arms where he belongs.

“I love you Jiaheng,” he whispered gently, smiling down towards the boy.

There was a pause before a tear filled reply came, “Yifan.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol asked, sounding a little confused.

“Wu Yifan,” Kris said gently, “The name my mother gave me.”

“Yifan?” Chanyeol said slowly, testing it out before kissing his forehead, “I love it and I love you.”

“I love you too, Channie,” Kris said gently, hesitantly placing a kiss onto the others lips before burying his head back into the crook of his neck and just remaining there because he couldn’t think of anything better to do.  

Authors babbling:

In my head this was supposed to happen over two chapters but as I was writing the plot bunnies insisted on going this way and I've learnt not to ignore them overly much so I hope that this chapter is good enough for all of you. Hopefully the story is making sense and not going totally crazy but if you have any questios please feel free to ask and I'll clear up. 

Not much left of this, one more chapter for certain, possibly another depending on how it goes but I shall try and get it updated soon ^^

love you all lots and speak soon