Take Me Down
Title: Take Me Down
Paring: Henry / Ryeowook
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: A little drama, a little fluff
Summary: Ryeowook has been avoiding Henry ever since their first brief kiss and it leads to a fight that Henry doesn't even understand.
Inspired by and title taken from the song "Never Gonna Leave This Bed" by Maroon 5.
When they kissed it had happened so fast that Henry could hardly believe that it had happened at all. One second he was leaning across Ryeowook to retrieve his sheet music from the edge of the piano and then the next second their faces were so close their lips were nearly touching. The second after that Ryeowook had leaned forward from his seat on the piano bench and their lips were touching. It only lasted a short moment but in that moment his heart nearly leapt out of his chest and every thought in his head just stopped.
The next thing he knew, Ryeowook was blushing, apologizing and running out of the practice room before he could get his brain to compose a single word.
Things hadn’t been the same since.
Ryeowook no longer let Henry help him in the kitchen and no longer listened to Henry practice the violin. He always made sure they weren’t sitting next to each other in the van, at the dining table, on the couch, anywhere. And they went from constantly talking and laughing together to hardly speaking at all. Now, every time Henry tried to talk to Ryeowook the other boy made some sort of excuse and either left or busied himself with something else.
No matter what Henry tried Ryeowook always managed to avoid him and he was starting to feel discouraged and more than a little angry. After dinner one night a few days later, he tried once again to talk to Ryeowook and when his smile and offer to help with the dishes didn’t work something just snapped. He had had enough.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Why won’t you talk to me anymore? For someone who’s supposed to be my friend you sure are doing a terrible job at it.”
“I can’t pay attention to you every second of the day, Henli.”
“Well you used to try to. Now you’re not paying any attention to me at all. You’re supposed to be my friend. If I had known you were going to go crazy and start ignoring me later I wouldn’t have spent as much time with you from the start!”
“Well maybe I don’t want to be friends with someone who needs constant attention!”
“Well maybe I don’t want to be friends with someone who babies me and is so clingy all the time! I can make other friends and finally do something besides cook and practice the same songs over and over. I can make friends with someone fun!”
As soon as Henry said the words he wondered why he had. He liked all those things. But he was so mad that it didn’t matter. He wanted to hurt Ryeowook as much as Ryeowook was hurting him. And it was working. Ryeowook’s expression was still one of anger but his eyes had filled with tears. And instead of backing off Henry continued.
“Someone who doesn’t cry more than my sister!”
He expected Ryeowook to yell at him more, to tell him he was being childish and stupid, but Ryeowook didn’t say a word. Ryeowook just stared at him, tears finally spilling from his eyes and over those perfect cheekbones that Henry was starting to regret loving. The dish Ryeowook had been cleaning fell into the sink and just as Heechul stepped into the doorway Ryeowook ran out through it.
“Why are you two yelling?” Heechul demanded. “Did you make Wookie cry?”
“Like it’s that hard to do…” Henry muttered, but he was already starting to feel bad.
“Maybe not, but he would never do that to you.”
“That’s what I used to think.” Henry shook his head and pushed past Heechul and out of the room.
Henry stormed out of the dorm and into the stairwell, climbing all the way to the top to the door that led to the roof. The beauty of the sun setting over the city, casting an orange and pink glow across the sky, contrasted so much with how angry and guilty he felt that he found himself glaring at nothing in particular. It wasn’t fair that something could be so beautiful when everything he felt was so ugly. Normally it would make him feel better, but not today.
He had first come to the roof on the day he had been scolded by management for making them late for a rehearsal. He had been on the phone with his family, the first time he’d gotten to speak with them in a month. It had been the place he hid every time he was upset after that. Once the fans began to act out against him he had found himself up the stairs and staring at the sky more and more often. He even sat there in the rain, huddled under a tiny overhang that kept him only partly dry. Ryeowook had followed him after the first performance with angry fanchants happened. Ryeowook was the only one who had seen him cry. Ryeowook was the only one who always knew where to find him.
But Ryeowook wouldn’t be coming to look for him now.
How had they even gotten from that to this? In the few months since he had met the others, Henry had grown closer to Ryeowook than he had to any of them. Ryeowook had become his best friend and he wasn’t certain when it had happened but somewhere along the way those feelings had grown into something much deeper that he couldn’t control. Ryeowook had stolen his heart away bit by bit with every sweet word and gentle smile. Normally the thought of having someone hold that much of his heart in the palm of their hand would have scared him, but with Ryeowook he didn’t mind. He knew Ryeowook wouldn’t ever break it. Or at least that was what he had thought.
He had never thought Ryeowook would suddenly start acting as if he didn’t exist. It shocked him and more than that, it hurt.
But why was Ryeowook acting this way? With his anger fading into guilt and his guilt fading into heartache he found he still wanted to believe this wasn’t something Ryeowook would do. He wanted to believe Ryeowook had a good reason. But what was it? What reason could be so great that it made it okay to hurt him like this? Ryeowook didn’t want to talk to him at all, let alone explain.
“If you keep frowning like that your face will freeze that way.”
Kyuhyun’s voice behind him made him jump.
“So I hear you made Ryeowook cry.”
How did Kyuhyun even know about that? How did Kyuhyun know where to find him?
“Heechul talks. And you nearly hit me with the dorm door on your way out. I saw you go into the stairs and just assumed you’d be here and not out on the streets. Safer up here.”
“Is one of your idol talents mind reader? Do they teach that at SM?” Henry grumbled, sitting down with his back to Kyuhyun and pulling his knees to his chest.
“No but they do teach you to quit revealing everything you think through your expressions, mostly favoring having us come off as happy and energetic.” Kyuhyun replied, sitting down next to him. “So you made Wookie cry? You do know Eeteuk is going to kill you right?”
“Like you never made Ryeowook cry.”
“Oh, I’m a smartass and I tease but I wouldn’t ever make Ryeowook cry. He’s Eeteuk’s baby. You should probably start packing your bags for Canada right now.”
“You’re not helping…” Henry’s voice came out muffled from where he had pressed his face to his knees.
“Who said I came here to help?”
Henry sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping, pressing his face into his knees even more. There was a moment of silence and he could feel Kyuhyun looking at him before the other boy spoke again.
“Okay fine. What’s going on with the two of you?”
“He’s been avoiding me.”
“Well what did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Well you have to have done something, he wouldn’t just stop talking to you suddenly for no reason.”
“We…we sort of kissed.”
“Sort of?”
“Okay we kissed. But he kissed me.”
“Oh… I really don’t know why he won’t talk to you then, if he likes you enough to kiss then he should like you enough to talk to.”
“You’re so helpful, hyung.”
“Maybe you’re a bad kisser.”
“Oh my god, please go away.”
“Do you want me to go talk to him?”
“No.”
“Are you going to go talk to him?”
“No…I don’t know…”
“Well you should. If you like him so much you shouldn’t just give up.”
“I-I never said I liked him!”
“You don’t have to say it. Really, you should go talk to him.” Kyuhyun said, patting him on the shoulder and standing to head back inside. “He’s not as easy to read as you are, but it seems like he likes you too.”
Henry just stared after him, even after the door was closed and he was gone. Was he really that transparent? How could Ryeowook actually like him but still be acting the way he was? It made no sense. Kyuhyun had to be wrong.
And he really didn’t want to find out if Kyuhyun was wrong. Without realizing it he had slipped past the point of being okay if Ryeowook didn’t return his feelings. Now, just the thought of going back downstairs to talk with Ryeowook scared him. He could feel his heart breaking at just the thought of what Ryeowook might say and he hated it.
Turning away from the door and back to the sky he sighed. Going back inside feeling like this wasn’t going to help. He would probably only end up yelling again, or crying. He should wait. It was probably a good idea to wait until Eeteuk was asleep as well. Hopefully Kyuhyun wouldn’t get bored and reveal where he was hiding.
The sky faded from pink and orange into purple and blue until finally the sun was gone and the stars were out. Staring up at the thousands of little pin pricks of light, he searched for constellations he remembered the names of. He had learned a few in school when he was younger and one night when Ryeowook had followed him to the roof he had spent a while pointing them all out. Ryeowook had listened quietly before revealing that he actually knew more constellations than Henry himself did, pointing out a few more.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew them already?”
“I wanted to hear you talk about them.”
Tonight instead of sitting huddled next to Ryeowook, Henry sat alone and shivered. Several stars filled the sky that he couldn’t put into patterns that made sense and he knew Ryeowook remembered their names but Ryeowook wasn’t there to tell him. Sitting looking at the stars alone wasn’t the same.
Then it hit him. Nothing would be the same. This wasn’t the way he wanted things to be.
Making his way back down the stairs and into the dorm he headed to the room that he and Ryeowook shared. He wasn’t sure what he would say or how he would say it but he had to say something. He had to find out what was really going on with Ryeowook, whether he liked the answers he received or not. He couldn’t just let it go.
All of his plans for slipping in quietly to avoid waking anyone else were ruined when he reached the bedroom door and found it locked. Ryeowook still didn’t want to talk to him. Ryeowook didn’t even want to see him.
“Ryeowook, please open the door.” He said quietly, knowing the boy on the other side of it was surely still awake. When he received no answer he tried again a little louder, knocking on the door as well. Nothing changed but he didn’t stop.
“Ryeowook. Ryeowook open the door.” He continued to knock on the bedroom door. He didn’t care that it was late and most of the others were sleeping. He wasn’t going to let it end like this. He wasn’t going to let it end. “Ryeowook!”
“Will you shut up?” Heechul snapped, appearing in his doorway in pink pajamas and messy hair.
“Not until this door opens.” Henry replied, knocking harder on the door and calling Ryeowook’s name again.
“Henli, I really like you…so please…don’t make me beat you up in our hallway in the middle of the night.” Heechul was growing more frustrated, taking a few steps into the hallway and towards him.
“Sorry, hyung.” Henry said without even looking away from the door. “Ryeowook, let me in. I’m not going anywhere. Open the door.”
“Henli…” Heechul growled and had just landed his first smack to the back of Henry’s head when the door finally opened just a crack so Henry could enter.
“Night, hyung.” Henry said and quickly ducked into the room, shutting the door on Heechul as he fumed.
Ryeowook was back in bed, facing the wall and not saying a word. He didn’t even react when Henry sat on the edge of the bed, looking at him.
“Ryeowook, I’m sorry.”
Nothing.
“I shouldn’t have said those things to you earlier. I just…it hurts so much that you’re pushing me away. I don’t understand why you are.”
Ryeowook still said nothing so he just continued.
“I’ve never fallen for someone as fast or as hard as I have for you, Ryeowook. I look at you and I can’t think. You talk to me and I can’t breathe. You turn me into a nervous, stuttering mess half of the time but I like it. I like the way my heart beats faster when you’re around and the way it skips a beat every time you smile. I like being head over heels for you. And after you kissed me I thought that maybe…you liked me too.”
Ryeowook didn’t respond and Henry would have wondered if he was even awake if it hadn’t been for the way Ryeowook’s breath caught a little when he mentioned having fallen for him.
“I used to think I’d be fine if it turned out you didn’t. But now I can’t stand the thought of you not liking me. So if you were just pretending this whole time, then please…just keep pretending because I don’t think I can handle finding out you don’t want anything to do with me.”
“I don’t have to pretend, Henli.” Ryeowook finally said, his voice quiet. “I just…I can’t do this. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Ryeowook was silent again and Henry scooted closer.
“Ryeowook?” he reached out and gently turned Ryeowook onto his back and away from the wall. The older boy’s eyes were full of tears. He looked so…scared. “What are you so afraid of?”
“What would happen if it didn’t work out.” Ryeowook’s voice wavered and he swallowed to hold back his tears. “If things didn’t work out for us and we couldn’t be around each other anymore it would be terrible for the others… for the company…”
“They shouldn’t stop you from doing what makes you happy, Ryeowook. It’s definitely not what the others would want. And this isn’t about the others or the company, it’s about you and it’s about me.”
“It would be terrible for us too.”
“And this is better?”
“No…” Ryeowook’s voice finally broke and he drew a shaky breath, tears slipping from his closed eyes and into his hair.
Henry leaned in closer, gently wiping the tears from Ryeowook’s face with his thumbs. Ryeowook choked out another quiet cry but his eyes re-opened and Henry could see this was tearing Ryeowook apart. How long had Ryeowook been torturing himself with all of these what ifs?
“What about what your family would think? This…it’s not easy, Henli. You need them. And you don’t need one more thing-”
“Ryeowook, I don’t care.”
“We could just end up hurting each other. It could be like how we were earlier today only all the time. I don’t like hurting you…” Ryeowook turned his head away as more tears fell but Henry’s hand turned him back.
“We could also be really happy.”
This time Henry was the one who initiated the kiss, leaning down the last few inches until their lips met. It lasted longer than the first time and Henry could feel Ryeowook’s lips still trembling but perfect against his own. When they parted, Ryeowook was staring up at him with teary eyes but he didn’t look anywhere near as sad as he had been before.
“I’m willing to take the chance.” Henry said softly, all of the fear rushing back to him as the words left his mouth. Ryeowook might actually like him, but he could still break his heart right here and right now.
The way Ryeowook was looking up at him in silence only made it worse. There were too many emotions in Ryeowook’s eyes for him to read and he realized then that he was holding his breath. Thinking he should speak again, the words were on the tip of his tongue when suddenly Ryeowook’s fingers weaved into his hair and pulled him down so their lips met again.
Ryeowook sat up, moving closer and closer until Henry finally pulled him onto his lap, hands pressing to the back of Ryeowook’s neck and the small of his back. Ryeowook dominated the kiss and took it much further than before, his tongue exploring every part of Henry’s mouth and his hands tugging a little at Henry’s hair when Henry moaned quietly.
They were both panting lightly when they parted and Ryeowook kept his fingers in Henry’s hair, breathing a sigh. “I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.”
“Well, feel free to do it any time you want.” Henry smiled, his own list of things he wanted to do to Ryeowook growing longer by the second. “So I guess this means you do still like me then?”
“No, Henli.” Ryeowook replied, kissing him lightly then pulling back again just far enough to murmur against Henry’s lips. “I love you.”
~*~*~*~
A.N.: Ta daaa! This is something that has been sitting NEARLY finished on my computer for months. ^^ I'm trying to be good and actually finish things now... esp things like this that were 98% done.
I leave for Paris tomorrow! Yaaaaaay SM Town Live here I come! *glee* Oh lord.... I might actually die in the presence of Henry Lau and Ryeowook x_____x If you never hear from me again then thats what happened. I just died a happy fangirly death right there in the Zenith.
Comments before my untimely death due to too much gorgeousness in the same room as me are love!! <3
Paring: Henry / Ryeowook
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: A little drama, a little fluff
Summary: Ryeowook has been avoiding Henry ever since their first brief kiss and it leads to a fight that Henry doesn't even understand.
Inspired by and title taken from the song "Never Gonna Leave This Bed" by Maroon 5.
When they kissed it had happened so fast that Henry could hardly believe that it had happened at all. One second he was leaning across Ryeowook to retrieve his sheet music from the edge of the piano and then the next second their faces were so close their lips were nearly touching. The second after that Ryeowook had leaned forward from his seat on the piano bench and their lips were touching. It only lasted a short moment but in that moment his heart nearly leapt out of his chest and every thought in his head just stopped.
The next thing he knew, Ryeowook was blushing, apologizing and running out of the practice room before he could get his brain to compose a single word.
Things hadn’t been the same since.
Ryeowook no longer let Henry help him in the kitchen and no longer listened to Henry practice the violin. He always made sure they weren’t sitting next to each other in the van, at the dining table, on the couch, anywhere. And they went from constantly talking and laughing together to hardly speaking at all. Now, every time Henry tried to talk to Ryeowook the other boy made some sort of excuse and either left or busied himself with something else.
No matter what Henry tried Ryeowook always managed to avoid him and he was starting to feel discouraged and more than a little angry. After dinner one night a few days later, he tried once again to talk to Ryeowook and when his smile and offer to help with the dishes didn’t work something just snapped. He had had enough.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Why won’t you talk to me anymore? For someone who’s supposed to be my friend you sure are doing a terrible job at it.”
“I can’t pay attention to you every second of the day, Henli.”
“Well you used to try to. Now you’re not paying any attention to me at all. You’re supposed to be my friend. If I had known you were going to go crazy and start ignoring me later I wouldn’t have spent as much time with you from the start!”
“Well maybe I don’t want to be friends with someone who needs constant attention!”
“Well maybe I don’t want to be friends with someone who babies me and is so clingy all the time! I can make other friends and finally do something besides cook and practice the same songs over and over. I can make friends with someone fun!”
As soon as Henry said the words he wondered why he had. He liked all those things. But he was so mad that it didn’t matter. He wanted to hurt Ryeowook as much as Ryeowook was hurting him. And it was working. Ryeowook’s expression was still one of anger but his eyes had filled with tears. And instead of backing off Henry continued.
“Someone who doesn’t cry more than my sister!”
He expected Ryeowook to yell at him more, to tell him he was being childish and stupid, but Ryeowook didn’t say a word. Ryeowook just stared at him, tears finally spilling from his eyes and over those perfect cheekbones that Henry was starting to regret loving. The dish Ryeowook had been cleaning fell into the sink and just as Heechul stepped into the doorway Ryeowook ran out through it.
“Why are you two yelling?” Heechul demanded. “Did you make Wookie cry?”
“Like it’s that hard to do…” Henry muttered, but he was already starting to feel bad.
“Maybe not, but he would never do that to you.”
“That’s what I used to think.” Henry shook his head and pushed past Heechul and out of the room.
Henry stormed out of the dorm and into the stairwell, climbing all the way to the top to the door that led to the roof. The beauty of the sun setting over the city, casting an orange and pink glow across the sky, contrasted so much with how angry and guilty he felt that he found himself glaring at nothing in particular. It wasn’t fair that something could be so beautiful when everything he felt was so ugly. Normally it would make him feel better, but not today.
He had first come to the roof on the day he had been scolded by management for making them late for a rehearsal. He had been on the phone with his family, the first time he’d gotten to speak with them in a month. It had been the place he hid every time he was upset after that. Once the fans began to act out against him he had found himself up the stairs and staring at the sky more and more often. He even sat there in the rain, huddled under a tiny overhang that kept him only partly dry. Ryeowook had followed him after the first performance with angry fanchants happened. Ryeowook was the only one who had seen him cry. Ryeowook was the only one who always knew where to find him.
But Ryeowook wouldn’t be coming to look for him now.
How had they even gotten from that to this? In the few months since he had met the others, Henry had grown closer to Ryeowook than he had to any of them. Ryeowook had become his best friend and he wasn’t certain when it had happened but somewhere along the way those feelings had grown into something much deeper that he couldn’t control. Ryeowook had stolen his heart away bit by bit with every sweet word and gentle smile. Normally the thought of having someone hold that much of his heart in the palm of their hand would have scared him, but with Ryeowook he didn’t mind. He knew Ryeowook wouldn’t ever break it. Or at least that was what he had thought.
He had never thought Ryeowook would suddenly start acting as if he didn’t exist. It shocked him and more than that, it hurt.
But why was Ryeowook acting this way? With his anger fading into guilt and his guilt fading into heartache he found he still wanted to believe this wasn’t something Ryeowook would do. He wanted to believe Ryeowook had a good reason. But what was it? What reason could be so great that it made it okay to hurt him like this? Ryeowook didn’t want to talk to him at all, let alone explain.
“If you keep frowning like that your face will freeze that way.”
Kyuhyun’s voice behind him made him jump.
“So I hear you made Ryeowook cry.”
How did Kyuhyun even know about that? How did Kyuhyun know where to find him?
“Heechul talks. And you nearly hit me with the dorm door on your way out. I saw you go into the stairs and just assumed you’d be here and not out on the streets. Safer up here.”
“Is one of your idol talents mind reader? Do they teach that at SM?” Henry grumbled, sitting down with his back to Kyuhyun and pulling his knees to his chest.
“No but they do teach you to quit revealing everything you think through your expressions, mostly favoring having us come off as happy and energetic.” Kyuhyun replied, sitting down next to him. “So you made Wookie cry? You do know Eeteuk is going to kill you right?”
“Like you never made Ryeowook cry.”
“Oh, I’m a smartass and I tease but I wouldn’t ever make Ryeowook cry. He’s Eeteuk’s baby. You should probably start packing your bags for Canada right now.”
“You’re not helping…” Henry’s voice came out muffled from where he had pressed his face to his knees.
“Who said I came here to help?”
Henry sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping, pressing his face into his knees even more. There was a moment of silence and he could feel Kyuhyun looking at him before the other boy spoke again.
“Okay fine. What’s going on with the two of you?”
“He’s been avoiding me.”
“Well what did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Well you have to have done something, he wouldn’t just stop talking to you suddenly for no reason.”
“We…we sort of kissed.”
“Sort of?”
“Okay we kissed. But he kissed me.”
“Oh… I really don’t know why he won’t talk to you then, if he likes you enough to kiss then he should like you enough to talk to.”
“You’re so helpful, hyung.”
“Maybe you’re a bad kisser.”
“Oh my god, please go away.”
“Do you want me to go talk to him?”
“No.”
“Are you going to go talk to him?”
“No…I don’t know…”
“Well you should. If you like him so much you shouldn’t just give up.”
“I-I never said I liked him!”
“You don’t have to say it. Really, you should go talk to him.” Kyuhyun said, patting him on the shoulder and standing to head back inside. “He’s not as easy to read as you are, but it seems like he likes you too.”
Henry just stared after him, even after the door was closed and he was gone. Was he really that transparent? How could Ryeowook actually like him but still be acting the way he was? It made no sense. Kyuhyun had to be wrong.
And he really didn’t want to find out if Kyuhyun was wrong. Without realizing it he had slipped past the point of being okay if Ryeowook didn’t return his feelings. Now, just the thought of going back downstairs to talk with Ryeowook scared him. He could feel his heart breaking at just the thought of what Ryeowook might say and he hated it.
Turning away from the door and back to the sky he sighed. Going back inside feeling like this wasn’t going to help. He would probably only end up yelling again, or crying. He should wait. It was probably a good idea to wait until Eeteuk was asleep as well. Hopefully Kyuhyun wouldn’t get bored and reveal where he was hiding.
The sky faded from pink and orange into purple and blue until finally the sun was gone and the stars were out. Staring up at the thousands of little pin pricks of light, he searched for constellations he remembered the names of. He had learned a few in school when he was younger and one night when Ryeowook had followed him to the roof he had spent a while pointing them all out. Ryeowook had listened quietly before revealing that he actually knew more constellations than Henry himself did, pointing out a few more.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew them already?”
“I wanted to hear you talk about them.”
Tonight instead of sitting huddled next to Ryeowook, Henry sat alone and shivered. Several stars filled the sky that he couldn’t put into patterns that made sense and he knew Ryeowook remembered their names but Ryeowook wasn’t there to tell him. Sitting looking at the stars alone wasn’t the same.
Then it hit him. Nothing would be the same. This wasn’t the way he wanted things to be.
Making his way back down the stairs and into the dorm he headed to the room that he and Ryeowook shared. He wasn’t sure what he would say or how he would say it but he had to say something. He had to find out what was really going on with Ryeowook, whether he liked the answers he received or not. He couldn’t just let it go.
All of his plans for slipping in quietly to avoid waking anyone else were ruined when he reached the bedroom door and found it locked. Ryeowook still didn’t want to talk to him. Ryeowook didn’t even want to see him.
“Ryeowook, please open the door.” He said quietly, knowing the boy on the other side of it was surely still awake. When he received no answer he tried again a little louder, knocking on the door as well. Nothing changed but he didn’t stop.
“Ryeowook. Ryeowook open the door.” He continued to knock on the bedroom door. He didn’t care that it was late and most of the others were sleeping. He wasn’t going to let it end like this. He wasn’t going to let it end. “Ryeowook!”
“Will you shut up?” Heechul snapped, appearing in his doorway in pink pajamas and messy hair.
“Not until this door opens.” Henry replied, knocking harder on the door and calling Ryeowook’s name again.
“Henli, I really like you…so please…don’t make me beat you up in our hallway in the middle of the night.” Heechul was growing more frustrated, taking a few steps into the hallway and towards him.
“Sorry, hyung.” Henry said without even looking away from the door. “Ryeowook, let me in. I’m not going anywhere. Open the door.”
“Henli…” Heechul growled and had just landed his first smack to the back of Henry’s head when the door finally opened just a crack so Henry could enter.
“Night, hyung.” Henry said and quickly ducked into the room, shutting the door on Heechul as he fumed.
Ryeowook was back in bed, facing the wall and not saying a word. He didn’t even react when Henry sat on the edge of the bed, looking at him.
“Ryeowook, I’m sorry.”
Nothing.
“I shouldn’t have said those things to you earlier. I just…it hurts so much that you’re pushing me away. I don’t understand why you are.”
Ryeowook still said nothing so he just continued.
“I’ve never fallen for someone as fast or as hard as I have for you, Ryeowook. I look at you and I can’t think. You talk to me and I can’t breathe. You turn me into a nervous, stuttering mess half of the time but I like it. I like the way my heart beats faster when you’re around and the way it skips a beat every time you smile. I like being head over heels for you. And after you kissed me I thought that maybe…you liked me too.”
Ryeowook didn’t respond and Henry would have wondered if he was even awake if it hadn’t been for the way Ryeowook’s breath caught a little when he mentioned having fallen for him.
“I used to think I’d be fine if it turned out you didn’t. But now I can’t stand the thought of you not liking me. So if you were just pretending this whole time, then please…just keep pretending because I don’t think I can handle finding out you don’t want anything to do with me.”
“I don’t have to pretend, Henli.” Ryeowook finally said, his voice quiet. “I just…I can’t do this. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Ryeowook was silent again and Henry scooted closer.
“Ryeowook?” he reached out and gently turned Ryeowook onto his back and away from the wall. The older boy’s eyes were full of tears. He looked so…scared. “What are you so afraid of?”
“What would happen if it didn’t work out.” Ryeowook’s voice wavered and he swallowed to hold back his tears. “If things didn’t work out for us and we couldn’t be around each other anymore it would be terrible for the others… for the company…”
“They shouldn’t stop you from doing what makes you happy, Ryeowook. It’s definitely not what the others would want. And this isn’t about the others or the company, it’s about you and it’s about me.”
“It would be terrible for us too.”
“And this is better?”
“No…” Ryeowook’s voice finally broke and he drew a shaky breath, tears slipping from his closed eyes and into his hair.
Henry leaned in closer, gently wiping the tears from Ryeowook’s face with his thumbs. Ryeowook choked out another quiet cry but his eyes re-opened and Henry could see this was tearing Ryeowook apart. How long had Ryeowook been torturing himself with all of these what ifs?
“What about what your family would think? This…it’s not easy, Henli. You need them. And you don’t need one more thing-”
“Ryeowook, I don’t care.”
“We could just end up hurting each other. It could be like how we were earlier today only all the time. I don’t like hurting you…” Ryeowook turned his head away as more tears fell but Henry’s hand turned him back.
“We could also be really happy.”
This time Henry was the one who initiated the kiss, leaning down the last few inches until their lips met. It lasted longer than the first time and Henry could feel Ryeowook’s lips still trembling but perfect against his own. When they parted, Ryeowook was staring up at him with teary eyes but he didn’t look anywhere near as sad as he had been before.
“I’m willing to take the chance.” Henry said softly, all of the fear rushing back to him as the words left his mouth. Ryeowook might actually like him, but he could still break his heart right here and right now.
The way Ryeowook was looking up at him in silence only made it worse. There were too many emotions in Ryeowook’s eyes for him to read and he realized then that he was holding his breath. Thinking he should speak again, the words were on the tip of his tongue when suddenly Ryeowook’s fingers weaved into his hair and pulled him down so their lips met again.
Ryeowook sat up, moving closer and closer until Henry finally pulled him onto his lap, hands pressing to the back of Ryeowook’s neck and the small of his back. Ryeowook dominated the kiss and took it much further than before, his tongue exploring every part of Henry’s mouth and his hands tugging a little at Henry’s hair when Henry moaned quietly.
They were both panting lightly when they parted and Ryeowook kept his fingers in Henry’s hair, breathing a sigh. “I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.”
“Well, feel free to do it any time you want.” Henry smiled, his own list of things he wanted to do to Ryeowook growing longer by the second. “So I guess this means you do still like me then?”
“No, Henli.” Ryeowook replied, kissing him lightly then pulling back again just far enough to murmur against Henry’s lips. “I love you.”
~*~*~*~
A.N.: Ta daaa! This is something that has been sitting NEARLY finished on my computer for months. ^^ I'm trying to be good and actually finish things now... esp things like this that were 98% done.
I leave for Paris tomorrow! Yaaaaaay SM Town Live here I come! *glee* Oh lord.... I might actually die in the presence of Henry Lau and Ryeowook x_____x If you never hear from me again then thats what happened. I just died a happy fangirly death right there in the Zenith.
Comments before my untimely death due to too much gorgeousness in the same room as me are love!! <3