Chapter Forty-Five
 Maybe a Little Love in the Dark will Kickstart our Broken Hearts
 

Kyungsoo pushed Chanyeol out of the way a dozen kisses later so he could move closer to LuHan when the bottle landed on him, and the entire circle accused Sehun and LuHan of cheating when LuHan spinning the bottle landed on the youngest again. Sehun’s amusement faded when he landed on Jongin, and they exchanged a blank look, holding their hands out to gladly take one of the shots that Jongdae had poured, each feeling relief about the rule that Junmyeon had suggested.

Jongin and Junmyeon exchanged a light peck, and when Junmyeon landed on Yixing, Jongdae started to open the bottle to pour each a shot, pausing when Junmyeon placed a hand on the back on Yixing’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. He set the bottle down when Yixing reached up and wrapped his arms around Junmyeon’s neck, leaning back when Junmyeon pressed forward, resulting in Junmyeon pinning the other onto the ground between their respectful boyfriends. Yifan pulled his focus from the two, shock the only thing on his face when he looked at the horror mixing in with the shock at the intrigued look on the brunet’s face.

“Aren’t you going to pull your boyfriend off mine?” Yifan asked, Jongdae humming as he pulled out his mobile, selecting the camera app.

“I haven’t decided how I feel about this yet, so nah,” he stated, clicks sounding from his mobile as he took a few pictures, reaching down to take a fistful of Junmyeon’s hair after he put his mobile away. Yifan swallowed hard at the faint moan that Junmyeon let out as Jongdae pulled him off the other, watching the blond lay over Jongdae’s lap as he lost his balance from being forced to sit up suddenly, and Yifan was quick to help Yixing sit back up, fussing over him.

“Yifan-Ge if I wasn’t okay, Junmyeon wouldn’t have kept kissing me,” Yixing giggled, Yifan keeping hold of him while he almost fell over trying to reach for the bottle to spin, landing on the blond who was on the outside of the circle, still messing with his mobile.

“Wait, has ZiTao been kissed yet?” LuHan asked, and Jongin shook his head.

“No one’s landed on him yet, somehow,” he said, said male slowly looking up from his mobile when he felt the others staring at him.

“What?”

“Yixing-Hyung landed on you, so you two either get to kiss or take a shot. And I don’t think Yixing should have any more alcohol,” Sehun pointed out, and ZiTao frowned, looking back to his mobile.

“I’m not playing.”

“Yes you are, c’mon Hyung, don’t be a spoilsport,” Sehun continued.

“Why can’t I just take a shot for both of us?” he asked, Yixing leaning against Yifan.

“That would probably be a good idea. Get him on everyone else’s level since he hasn’t drank anything yet tonight because he somehow avoided getting picked on by the bottle,” Chanyeol stated, and ZiTao set his mobile down long enough to choke on the two shots that Jongdae offered him. He took another shot after someone spun the bottle for him and he said he didn’t want to kiss Jongin, Yifan telling him he was cut off after and the blond gave a small shrug, muttering that he didn’t even want to play in the first place. Yifan was about to ask ZiTao if he was alright when Jongdae whistled and he looked up to see Kyungsoo dragging a flustered looking Jongin to his and Sehun’s room, the door all but slamming behind them.

“Hyung, can I stay the night at your house? I don’t think I wanna share that bed tonight,” Sehun asked, LuHan draping an arm over the younger’s shoulders as he laughed.

Chanyeol pulled his legs to his chest, keeping himself rooted in his spot knowing that the last thing he could do was follow the pair past that door; not like he wanted to see either of them more than shirtless. But at the same time the last thing he wanted to do was go back to their dorm, knowing that Baekhyun had refused to go to the party so he could pack his things to move in with his brother. And going back to their dorm would mean hiding in Kyungsoo’s room all alone while the life he had known for two years was taken stripped from his home like old paint. A few spins later he got up, asking Yifan if there was somewhere he could lay down since he wasn’t feeling well, the older pointing to the door on the opposite side of the dorm.

“You can crash on my bed, it’s the one on the corner,” he explained, Chanyeol nodding before making his way inside closing the door a lot softer than Kyungsoo had. He leaned back against it for a moment, trying to push out the memories of playing kissing games at little parties, the way Baekhyun would swat at his chest to get him to break the kiss, the roll of Baekhyun’s eyes when he would come home to find Chanyeol had hung mistletoe over their bedroom door and the younger was standing in the doorway to welcome him. He swallowed back a whimper at the throb in his chest, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes to fight back tears and try and calm himself down; now was the worst time for Kyungsoo to get a bad feeling and come rushing in to check on him.

He needs a break from me, Chanyeol told himself, lowering his hands and opening his eyes, frowning as he looked at the two beds in the room, each in a corner of their own. He sighed, making his way over to the closer of the two, lying face down on the silk sheets, hoping the alcohol in his stomach would bring him a fast sleep.

>Sorry Kid, this is taking a lot longer than I thought it was going to. I won’t be able to make it tonight. Maybe next time.

ZiTao scowled down at his mobile, feeling a sting in his nose. How many times was the older going to cancel on him? He understood that Minseok was busy with graduating, but they hadn’t been on a date since they went out for hot pot, and that whole date was because the other wasn’t spending time with his very often. Yifan was busy and he still made time for his boyfriend, so why wasn’t Minseok doing the same for him? The blond swallowed hard, a question scratching at the back of his mind. What if Minseok didn’t actually want to spend time with him, and that was the reason he never seemed to fit him into his schedule?

ZiTao huffed an irritated sigh, standing and dropping his mobile onto the kitchen counter as he made his way to his and Yifan’s room, ignoring Yifan’s calling to him to ask if he was alright. He made his way across the room, starting to climb into his bed when he noticed a figure already laying on top of his sheets. He reached out, poking the other on the back, frowning at the other as he lifted his head from ZiTao’s pillow to look over at him.

“What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? You’re on my bed.”

“Yifan-Hyung said I could sleep on his bed.”

“Well you picked the wrong one, get off and go to the other bed.

“Why can’t you?”

“Because this is my bed!” ZiTao argued, Chanyeol laying his head back down on the pillow and rolling onto his side, his back still to ZiTao.

“I don’t care,” he grumbled, and ZiTao huffed an irritated sigh before dropping himself on the bed beside the other, their backs just touching. Chanyeol wasn’t sure how long they laid like that before the bed felt a little too small and with some effort Chanyeol managed to roll onto his other side, frowning at the back of the blond’s head. He reached out, ZiTao flinching when he poked the younger in the side, and he waited a moment before he did it again. He repeated the action, hoping it would get him to move from the bed and onto Yifan’s, and Chanyeol was a little surprised when suddenly the blond rolled over and their noses almost touched. His eyes flickered down to the blond’s lips pulled into the same kind of irritated pout Baekhyun’s would after they would fight just before the storm would break away with a single brush of the lips, and the pain he felt would melt away.

"Would you... Kiss me?"  ZiTao blinked slowly, his eyebrows knitting together at the question. Surely he heard that wrong, there was no way this guy was asking someone he didn't really know to kiss him, and even if he was it had to be the alcohol talking, right? "Please?" ZiTao bit the inside of his look at the way the others voice shook a little, but he made no move to kiss the older, or move off the bed. What if this was just a ploy to creep him out so that the other could have his bed? He was pulled out of his accusatory scenario when he felt the others forehead press against his own, and one of Chanyeol’s hands came up to grip the front of ZiTao’s shirt.

"I feel so unwanted right now... I didn't even want to come to this stupid party, but I can't bring myself to be around Baekhyun anymore, and I..." he trailed off and started to roll back over, ZiTao reaching out to catch his cheek.He wasn’t sure if he had actually expected the other to accept his request or not, but he felt his heart jump a little at the light brush of the younger’s lips against his own, though he felt it drop again when the warmth of the other’s hand on his cheek and breath fanning over his face disappeared. He opened his eyes, voice catching in his throat when ZiTao seemed to have pulled back just to shift so their bodies were lined up against each other, because his lips were back on Chanyeol’s before long.

Chanyeol’s hand moved back to ZiTao’s shirt, pressing more into the kiss as he tugged on the shirt enough that it rode half way up, and he let go of the fabric to trail his fingers over the skin of the other’s stomach, breaking the kiss and pulling his hand back when ZiTao started to pull back. When ZiTao took a hold of his wrist and placed in back onto his waist Chanyeol felt himself finally starting to relax, closing his eyes when ZiTao reached out to push up his shirt as well- as far as he could, at least and a smile cracked across Chanyeol’s lips when the younger let out an impatient huff at the fact that he couldn’t get the other’s shirt up any higher.

Chanyeol pulled back, somehow managing to sit up without falling right back over, stripping himself of his shirt, surprised when he opened his eyes to find ZiTao sitting up with him. The dark haired male reached out, fingers brushing up the blond’s stomach and under the other’s shirt as it was slipping back down, slowly pulling it up over ZiTao’s head. ZiTao shifted closer, halfway sitting in the older’s lap as Chanyeol leaned against the wall the long side of the bed was against, shivering when he felt ZiTao brush his lips against his neck rather than the kiss he was expecting, his hands coming to hold the blond’s hips.

ZiTao trailed kisses down the others neck, Chanyeol’s thumbs pressing into the skin just above his hips when he nipped at the base of his neck, running his tongue lightly over it before pulling back for another kiss. ZiTao broke said kiss when he felt the other let go of his hips, hands coming to and his own pants and ZiTao moved off of Chanyeol, watching the other strip himself of his pants. ZiTao laid back down as Chanyeol pushed the discarded pants off the bed and onto the floor, wrapping his arms around the older’s neck when he laid down again as well.

He pulled Chanyeol in for a kiss, a small noise escaping him when Chanyeol took his lower lip between his teeth, offering a nip before dragging his teeth along the flesh between them, humming at the way it made ZiTao pull him closer. The dark haired male broke the kiss, trailing kisses along ZiTao’s jawline and down his neck until he got to the juncture between his neck and shoulder. He ran his tongue over the soft skin there until he found a spot that made the younger take in a quick breath, then bit down as hard as he could pulling a choked moan from the male under him. ZiTao took a firm grasp of his shoulder, giving it a light push and Chanyeol eased his teeth off, feeling the younger shiver beneath him and he started to soothe his tongue over the impressions his teeth had left.

Chanyeol felt the way the younger griped his shoulder again when he took the abused skin between his teeth again, this time rather than biting, pleased when ZiTao pulled on his shoulder rather than pushed this time. It encouraged him to harder and harder, the high pitched moans that were escaping the blond, making a shiver of his own run down his spine to pool in his lower stomach. He finally let go of the skin over the base of the other’s neck when his mouth started to hurt, running his tongue over the dark mark that he missed peppering all over Baekhyun’s stomach. He found himself kissing down the others chest, giving a nip to the skin over ZiTao’s stomach when he got there as he reached up to start ing the blond’s pants, looking up when the other took a hold of his wrists.

“Y… You said you wanted a kiss. We’re not going further,” ZiTao stated breathlessly before pulling on the others wrists to get Chanyeol to lay next to him again. Chanyeol shifted when ZiTao pulled the blankets from underneath them, before draping them over the two of them and settling back down on the bed. Chanyeol watched the younger for a moment before he moved as close to him as he could, laying his head on the younger’s chest to find his heartbeat. Only then did his shoulders fully relax as sleep finally came over the both of them.

Minseok sighed, setting down his pen and massaging his hand as he read over the information that he had written so many times he was sure he could have done it in his sleep by now. But at least it was all finally done, and if he had to do any further paperwork it would be when he got selected and signed on to a job. He collected the papers on his desk, surprised that he had been so lost in filling them out to let the desk become as cluttered as he had, standing once everything was in a nice stack. Checking his mobile for the time he sent a text to ZiTao asking if the other still wanted him to head to the party with how late is was, before he made his way out of the office he had been in, down the hall and around a corner to the main desk, returning the bright smile the secretary gave him with a tired one of his own.

"Well since you're done with those, why don't we get out of here?" Minseok gave her a confused look, and she crossed her arms under her s so when she leaned forward her cleavage became more apparent. "I'm off the clock in ten, and I know a great bar just down the street," she continued and Minseok's confusion broke with a smile and a laugh, her own smile faltering.

"I'm flattered by your offer, but I have someone waiting for me. Perhaps someone else would like to take you up on that," he replied simply, slipping on his over jacket as he turned away from the desk and out of the building. He checked his mobile once again, surprised that he hadn’t gotten a quick reply from the younger like he had been all evening when he would reply to the other between sections of his paperwork. Must have gone to bed, he thought, sending one final message to ZiTao as he made his way back to his apartment.

>I’ll be over in the morning to take you out to breakfast. I love you, goodnight.
 

“Thank you for hosting this party,” Junmyeon said, his words surprisingly only a little slurred, with how much trouble he was having trying to stay on his feet. Jongdae wrapped an arm around his waist to help keep him up, guiding him to the door

“I love ing you,” Jongdae stated, Yifan’s cheeks tinting as Sehun and LuHan started to laugh.

“We know, Hyung,” Sehun called, leaning a little more into LuHan when they started walking down the hall to head to LuHan’s apartment, Jongdae calling out to them as if it would get them to come back.

“Wait, no, that’s not what I meant!”

“It wasn’t?” Yixing giggled, Jongdae looking to the arched eyebrow of the blond who was pretty much using him as his total support to stand, and his kitten curls picked at the corners of his lips.

“Well I do, but I was trying to keep things pg and say that I ing love you,” he stated, delivering a light kiss to the older’s cheek.

“Yeah right,” Junmyeon replied, nudging Jongdae’s shoulder a little to get him to start the trip home. Yixing and Yifan trailed behind, a little slower and Yifan stopped once they were out of the dorm complex, looking back up at the building.

“Something wrong, Yifan-Ge?” The older looked to Yixing before shaking his head.

“No, ZiTao just seemed… off this evening.”

“Do you feel anything wrong?” Yixing asked and Yifan thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Then he should be alright for the night, shouldn’t he?” Yifan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he nodded. “Let’s head back to the apartment then, I’m sure Junmyeon was dragged off somewhere else for the night,” the blond said with another giggle as Yifan shook his head.

“You seem to enjoy filling my head with those mental images.”

“I could fill your head with mental images about us,” Yixing offered, giggling to the point that he almost fell over when the color drained from Yifan’s face, only to return several shades darker. Yifan tightened the hold he had with his arm wrapped around Yixing’s waist when he started to fall over, his free hand coming over to sneak under the younger’s shirt. “Ge! Your hand’s cold!” Yixing squealed before Yifan picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder, starting the rest of the walk to Yixing and Junmyeon’s apartment.

Once inside, with the door closed and locked behind them, Yifan stepped out his his shoes, pulling Yixing’s off as the other was still over his shoulder. He crossed the living room, opening the door to the shared bedroom, unceremoniously dropping Yixing on top of the bedding, following him onto the bed and pulling the younger against himself. Yixing shifted a little bit later, sitting up to tug on Yifan’s shirt to signal he wanted the other to take it off, and Yifan chuckled as he complied. He laid back down, Yixing settling beside him again, his hand coming up to trace shapes over Yifan’s heart; his hand only stopped moving when he finally fell asleep.