Short-ish chapter. :l

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Baekhyun's POV

I'm lying on my back on the bed, reading something on my phone. Chanyeol's quietly playing with my hair. I feel his fingers as they fall through my locks.

We had both washed up already, and I'm dressed in the night pants that Gamma Luhan gave me, but I swapped out the complimentary shirt for one of Chanyeol's tees. It's comfy, and it smells like him.

A knock on the door startles me out of my daze, the same time as my phone pings with a message. I leave the message on standby, rolling off of the bed and strolling to the door. I hear Chanyeol hum questioningly as he watches me.

I swing open the door, already knowing who it is. "Beta Jongin!" I greet him cheerfully.

"How is he doing?" Beta Jongin lowers his voice, eyeing Chanyeol carefully.

I pick at my top. "It's hard to say," I murmur back.

"Baekhyun? Beta Jongin? What's going on?" Chanyeol comes over to us and wraps an arm around my waist. "What were you talking about?"

I sigh. He should probably know. I unlock my phone, opening up the messages between Beta Jongin and I. I scroll up and then pass my phone over to Chanyeol. "Read them."

Chanyeol chews on his lower lip as he skims our conversation from earlier. "Look. I'm perfectly fine right now. It'll be okay."

I look at him, unconvinced. "Really?"

Chanyeol glances between me and Beta Jongin. "Really."

"Chanyeol I-"

Beta Jongin looks between the two of us. "You know what, I'll go now. Text me once you two come to a conclusion." And once again, the door slams shut. Argh!

"Chanyeol," I start softly, "I still think you should take a break. At least one day. You're still a bit unstable."

Chanyeol's eyes glisten. "Are you saying that I'm incapable?" His voice cracks.

"No l-" I pause, rephrasing my response, "I'm just concerned, alright?"

Chanyeol looks down. "Maybe there's such a thing as too concerned." He looks back up. "Do you not trust me?" He looks utterly broken.

I'm stunned. Do you not trust me? Do you not trust me? The words play in my head again and again. His expression doesn't waver. "I...I'm...er...um..." I stutter.

Chanyeol waves his hand. "It's okay, I understand." He looks as if he's dismissing me. No. I clutch my chest, a wave of pain surging over my heart as he turns away.

"No, Chanyeol I-"

"Really, it's fine."

I stay silent. But it's not.

Chanyeol shakes his head. "It's getting late. We should sleep." He walks over to our bed and lifts up the sheets, climbing in and tucking them back around him.

I slowly let out a breath, pulling my phone back out.

'I don't care what Chanyeol says, you're taking over tomorrow.'

I spot the red dot next to Kyungsoo's name. Oh, so that was him. I click open the message and look at the picture he sent me. Of his mark.

I remember the promise I made him that day. Right. I better learn how to draw it, and collect the key tomorrow. I look back over at Chanyeol, who has his back to me. I hear his steady breathing, telling me that he's asleep. I'm slightly disappointed. He didn't wait for me.

I drape a cloth over his eyes, knowing that the lights would be on for a while longer.

By the time I finish sketching out the crescent moon shrouded by clouds, a good hour has passed. Oh well. I set my pencil down and click off the desk lamp. I walk over and cut off the room lights, allowing the moonlight to spill in.

I walk over to my side of the bed. I sit down on my pillow, my back against the headboard, and my legs underneath the blanket. I watch Chanyeol sleep. The moonlight highlights his features and makes him look different. Cold and lonely.

I lie down properly, closing my eyes. I make no attempt to warm him up, or to give him comfort. Before I fall asleep, I realize that I'm facing him. I grunt, turning to sleep on my other side. So be it.

***

I'm jolted awake by sobs. Are you kidding me? I groan tiredly, opening my eyes. Somehow, we're tangled together, and Chanyeol's crying into my chest. What even happened? I stay there, not pulling away, but not reaching out to comfort him either. I don't even know why I'm still feeling bitter.

Soon enough, Chanyeol nods off again. I sigh, feeling kind of guilty. Because he doesn't need me anymore, I wriggle out of his grasp and situate myself on the other side of the bed.

But I can't fall asleep again. No matter how hard I try to block out reality, my eyes refuse to stay close for more than a few seconds. I groan in frustration, giving up and letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.

Suddenly, I hear Chanyeol whine, reaching out for me with one of his hands. Even with his eyes closed he looks so hurt and lost. I tentatively put out my hand, wanting to see his reaction. Chanyeol instantly finds it, gripping on to it as if his life was at stake. He is so going to end up cutting off my circulation.

He threads his fingers through mine. "I'm so sorry, Baekhyun," he mumbles, "So so sorry." A shudder ripples through his already trembling body. "Please," his voice is raw and worn, "forgive me. Please." His voice shakes. He genuinely sounds afraid.

My heart aches, and I feel tears brim my eyes. What ever happened between us, at the end of the day, he's still my mate. Wordlessly, I roll back over and tuck my arms around him.

Chanyeol doesn't seem to notice, and he continues to plead, "Please Baekhyun. Please." His voice cracks. "I have no more tears left to cry." He shudders again. "I'm sorry, I was wrong," He continues to ramble on aimlessly, "I need you back. Please."

"Chanyeol," I murmur, the name wobbling on the tip of my tongue, "Yeol." I bury my face into his chest, wanting to drown myself in his scent. I want to feel safe again. "Yeol, it's okay. I'm right here."

"Baekhyun, forgive me. Please." he sounds so distraught.

"Yeol." I run a hand through his hair. "Open your eyes."

"No. I don't want to see how disappointed you are. I don't want to see how much pain I've caused you." He squeezes his eyes shut, his muscles straining.

"I'm not disappointed. Open your eyes. Please."

Chanyeol shakes his head firmly. "I don't want to."

I sigh. "You asked for this," I warn him. I swing a leg over his hip, pulling him closer. I tilt his head back, running my fingers ever-so-lightly along his mark.

Chanyeol groans in agony. "Baekhyun, stop."

"Only if you open your eyes." I continue to torture him.

"Fine, fine. I can't take it anymore. Please, just stop." He squints at me.

I smirk. "I kinda don't want to." This earns me a kick in the shin. "Alright, alright." I remove my hand, watching as Chanyeol relaxes. "See? I'm not disappointed."

Chanyeol smiles at me. "So you forgive me?"

"Eh, sure. I was never really mad at you to begin with." I kiss his chin. "Plus, I already got my revenge." I run my hand along his mark again.

"Baekhyun, if you're going to touch my mark, you might as well make it more enjoyable," Chanyeol grimaces.

"Pfft." I kiss him on the lips. "Sure."

"Are you sure you're not mad?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Alright," he relents.

"Oh by the way, Beta Jongin's taking over tomorrow. Don't even argue with me."

"You know, sometimes I really question wether I'm the alpha or not." Chanyeol closes his eyes.

"You are. It's just that I don't take that into consideration."

"Of course you don't." With his eyes still closed, he reaches over and rubs my nape. "You don't need to." He tangles my legs with his. "I'm sleepy," he yawns.

I tuck the blankets over us. Somehow, I'm still wide awake. "Sleep then. Don't worry about me." I peck him on the forehead.

Chanyeol sighs and wraps his arms around me. "Good night." He drifts off.

I look around the room, contemplating what to do. As I watch the moon, a song comes to mind. I haven't really sung or thought about singing in a long time. I never had the time or leisure to be able to. But there was this one song that I heard quite frequently in my old pack, sung by one of the few wolves that actually put up with me. I heard it so often that I memorized everything, and I still know it all despite not hearing it for quite some time now. Not since Daehyun died. After that, I only mumbled the words to myself when I was left alone. Daehyun was the closest wolf I had to a friend, and the song kind of acted as a memento of him.

And so now, in the faint moonlight, I can't help but let the lyrics tumble from my lips. "I do believe all the love you give, all of the things you do. Love you, love you. Want you to know that I'm with you." My voice fades a bit, as I'm mindful not to wake Chanyeol. I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I will love you and love you and love you. Gonna hold you and hold you and squeeze you. I will please you for all times. I don't want to lose you and lose you and lose you. 'Cause I need you, I need you, I need you. So I want you to be my..." I trail off, trying to find a word. "lover. You have got to understand my love."

I close my eyes as I mumble the last part, suddenly feeling sleepy. "You are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful..." Argh! You know what? I give up. I'm going to sleep. Whatever.

I curl up against Chanyeol and finally fall asleep.

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Yay for emotional roller coasters! :3

In case you didn't know, the song Baekhyun sang was 'Love Song.' I cut out a portion of it and slightly edited it so that it would fit the situation, but it's still recognizable for the most part. (I hope.) And yes, I couldn't come up with a good word to replace 'lady'. I ended up using 'lover'. Doesn't sound as good, but I tried. ._.

Oh yeah, I genuinely tried to come up with a replacement for 'girl'. Evidently enough, I failed. Someone please help me! :p

If you guys can come up with better ones, please say so!

Oh, and I think I'll update every Tuesday and Friday. I've been doing that lately, and it seems to be going well enough! *\(^o^)/*

See you all Friday! Bye! <3

(On a totally unrelated note, 'Chasing Dreams with a Childlike Heart' by Luhan is AMAZING! I really don't know why I'm pointing this out now, it's been like five months since the song came out. Oh well. I've been listening to it too much recently, I guess. :l)

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