(( Hello all, I hope you've had a lovely week :3 This chapter's a little shorter than usual, but the next one I think is longer to make up for it. It's also late because I wanted to get the last two chapters for Fragmenting up before but I haven't had the time to finish them because of my new job. So a slight delay on that, though I'm not sure how many of you mind xD ))
 

Chapter Twenty-Two

“That’s something I’ve been wondering. How did you get in? I doubt ZiTao would have let you inside since he didn’t know you.”

“You never grew out of the habit of keeping a spare key on top of the door.”

ZiTao’s attention was pulled from the memory as Chanyeol came back into the bedroom. He was ruffling his hair dry with a towel as he padded to his wardrobe to pull out a pair of sleep pants. He turned to ZiTao once he had changed into them, a faint frown on his lips.

“What’s wrong?” He asked and ZiTao looked down at the bed he was sitting on.

“What do you mean?”

“ZiTao, don’t even try. It’s written on your face that something’s bothering you.” The blond shook his head, Chanyeol sitting beside him.

“It’s not really that something’s bothering me. Today was just… a lot. You never told me much about Jongdae, and his flirting was a big surprise.” Chanyeol cracked a smile and ZiTao pouted when he looked up to see it. “It was! You don’t just flirt with strangers you find half in your best friend’s apartment!” He exclaimed and Chanyeol laughed.

“Consider it his way of saying he likes you.”

“I would rather not have to go through that again.”

“I honestly doubt that you will. I was surprised that he acted the way he did. He’s been with Yifan for somewhere around a year and he stopped trying to sleep with anything with a pulse after they got together.”

“I thought he said something about not being with, whoever Yifan is, anymore,” ZiTao pointed out, noticing the hint of hurt in Chanyeol’s eyes before the other looked away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” He added, placing his hand on Chanyeol’s cheek.

“It’s fine,” Chanyeol said, closing his eyes and leaning into ZiTao’s hand. “I just wish I knew what happened. Even if you weren’t here he wouldn’t tell me, I’m sure. He’s always kept his cards close to his chest; you’ll only ever know something if he wants you to,” Chanyeol explained. “I hope one day he’ll tell me. He bottles up all of his feelings about everything, I’m worried that one day he’s just going to snap.” Chanyeol’s eye’s opened when he felt ZiTao’s lips on his forehead, raising his gaze to meet the blond’s.

“You care about him a lot, and I can tell that he cares about you too. Even if he has an odd way of showing it that involves sneaking into your home,” ZiTao said, pulling a laugh from Chanyeol.

“There was a time that I stopped locking my door because he would come in anyway,” He replied, laughing again as ZiTao shook his head.

“He’s…”

“Something else?’

“… Yeah, let’s go with that,” ZiTao let a smile of his own cross his lips as Chanyeol flopped onto his back, pulling ZiTao down again against his chest. “Are you sure that it’s okay for me to go out with you two next week? I know Jongdae was the one to bring up me coming along, but… It seemed like it was an important day.” Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow at him before humming as he thought.

“It’s around the time of year that we met I think, but other than that I don’t think it’s a special day,” He stated and ZiTao snuggled closer.

“If you’re sure.”

>I’m gonna shower before we go. Door’s unlocked, let yourself in

Chanyeol pocketed his mobile after sending a ‘got it’ back, looking out the passenger window. When he glanced over at ZiTao a small smile creeped across his lips at the worried knitting of the other’s eyebrows.

“When are you going to relax?” He asked, the blond’s cheeks puffing out in a small pout. “If he tries to flirt with you again, I’ll tell him to knock it off,” He added and ZiTao rolled his eyes.

“That’s only a small part of why I’m uneasy,” He replied and Chanyeol placed a hand over one of ZiTao’s.

“For the last time, he wouldn’t have invited you if he wasn’t okay with you coming along, and it’s not a big deal. It’s just the three of us going out to dinner. You’re not meeting my parents or anything,” Chanyeol sated, pulling his hand back as ZiTao turned into the apartment complex Jongdae had given them the address for.

“I know, I know,” ZiTao murmured, quickly parking in front of Jongdae’s apartment. Chanyeol leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, opening his door and walking up the stairs to Jongdae’s apartment, ZiTao trailing close behind.

Chanyeol opened the door and they slid out of their shoes, ZiTao watching how Chanyeol seemed to be the cautions one now as he padded through the apartment. Chanyeol caught the curious look on ZiTao’s face and laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“This is the first time I’ve been inside his home. Even back at the dorms, the two times I tried I basically got the door slammed in my face.”

“That’s because you didn’t need to come into my dorm.” The voice caused Chanyeol to jump and he looked behind himself at the brunet standing in the bathroom door as ZiTao settled on looking anywhere but at him. “So I don’t scare your boyfriend any more than I already have, go get my clothes from my room,” He said, pointing to the door on Chanyeol’s right and stepping back into the bathroom, closing the door. Chanyeol shook his head, grinning at ZiTao.

“Now you two are even.”

“What?”

“You’ve both seen each other in nothing but a towel.” ZiTao’s cheeks burned as he crossed his arms over his chest tightly.

“He’s seen me in less clothing than you have,” He countered and Chanyeol gave his shoulder a light nudge.

“Go sit on the couch and make yourself comfortable,” He said, the blond nodding before stepping further into the apartment. Chanyeol stepped into Jongdae’s room, opening the closet on the far side of it and digging around inside for something that didn’t look like a crop top or have a ton of holes in it. He finally got to the section of the other’s closet that has slacks and button up shirts when he noticed an odd scent. It wasn’t Jongdae’s because it was too sweet, like a mix of clovers and strawberries, but it still had a slight earthy hint to it. He hadn’t really ever gotten close to Yifan, so maybe it was something of his that Jongdae had kept after they had broken up?

He grabbed a red and black plaid print shirt that stood out compared to the more formal attire,  noting that it was too small for Yifan. He brought it closer to his face, perplexed by the scent. Why did it seem so familiar? Something was scratching at the back on his mind before he felt a sharp pain shook down his spine from the base of his skull. His head throbbed and it blurred his vision as his breath was pulled from him, a pair of brown eyes flashing through his mind followed by a scream that he knew only from his night terrors. He reached up with one hand, pressing his thumb into his temple as his other fingers pressed into his forehead, trying to reorient himself and noting how ragged his breathing was as he straightened, staring down at the shirt in his hands.

ZiTao looked around as he stepped through the apartment, curious when he noticed all the photo frames on top of the entertainment stand. He padded over to it, looking over all of the photos, picking up one, looking at the two brunets in it. One was obviously Jongdae, and he seemed close to whoever was in the photo with him.

“I would rather you not touch those.” He flinched when he heard the voice behind him, not having heard Jongdae walk up to him, and he set the frame back on the stand. He looked to Jongdae, who stepped towards the stand and adjusted the frame back a little, not sure if him standing there in his boxers was any better than in just a towel. Once Jongdae seemed content with adjusting the frame he turned and started for his bedroom.

“Your boyfriend is so slow,” He mumbled pushing the door open. “What about ‘get me clothes’ takes more than five min-” The irritation drained from Jongdae’s face when he saw the shirt in Chanyeol’s hands, eyes shifting to the pale face that turned to him, meeting the black haired male’s wide gaze.

“Who…” Chanyeol swallowed compulsively, his voice rough as his he had been screaming. “Who’s shirt is this?”