Chapter Text
Roughly sixteen months after Wei Wuxian had vanished from everyone’s lives, Jiang Cheng called their group chat at three in the morning.
Lan Wangji blinked the tiredness from his eyes and joined the call. Nie Huaisang was already there, likely because he was yet to sleep, and very quickly everyone else joined.
Jiang Cheng only spoke once they were all on the call. “They found him,” he said, like it was punched out of him. “They’ve found Wei Wuxian.”
Instantly, there was uproar. Jiang Yanli gasped, and Nie Huaisang immediately started talking.
Jiang Cheng interrupted. “He’s at the local private hospital,” he informed them. “I’m there right now. They won’t let anyone see him yet, but apparently he’ll be okay.”
“I’m coming,” Mianmian said.
“You don’t need to. It could be a while before they let anyone see him.”
Mianmian snorted. “I’m coming. There’s no way I’d be able to sleep now, anyway. Who else?”
Lan Wangji arrived at the hospital ten minutes later to see all of his friends already in the waiting room.
Jiang Yanli smiled at him wanly and held out a cardboard cup. "Tea," she said as an explanation. "We all need a bit of caffeine."
Looking around the sterile room, Lan Wangji could see that everyone else was already holding a similar cup. Jiang Yanli truly was an angel.
"Thank you," he said, taking the cup and moving to a seat next to Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen.
Xiao Xingchen had his head in Song Lan's lap, eyes closed, but he blinked awake when Lan Wangji sat down.
"How are you doing?" he asked as Song Lan carded a hand through his hair.
Lan Wangji considered the question. "I am managing," he replied eventually, then took a sip of his tea.
Song Lan looked at him. "Get some rest, if you can. Hospital waits aren't fun."
Lan Wangji nodded, but didn't close his eyes. In a little over an hour was his normal waking time. He would be fine.
Across the room, Jiang Cheng was pacing. Wen Qing was scrolling angrily though something on her phone, Mianmian reading over her shoulder. Nie Huaisang was lying on a bench seat, two phones in front of him, tapping furiously.
No one was coping particularly well.
Wen Qing looked up from her phone. "I've got the doctor's analysis here," she said, waving it slightly in the air. "He'll be fine. There's absolutely no reason for him to be anything other than fine."
Her phone chimed, and she glanced at the notification. "This is the hospital I'm working at," she said. "I'm scrubbing in in twenty minutes."
Lan Wangji nodded. It would be good for Wen Qing to have something to do, if the way she was tapping her fingers against the arm of her chair was any indication.
The hours trickled by slowly. Eventually, Jiang Cheng sat down. Nie Huaisang put his phones away and was dragged into Jiang Cheng’s lap and told, only somewhat aggressively, to go to sleep.
At four thirty in the morning, Jin Zixuan arrived to press more coffees and teas into hands, and then left for his office job after kissing Jiang Yanli on the head. Jiang Cheng was too asleep to act disgusted, so Mianmian did it for him.
At five in the morning, Lan Wangji texted his brother to tell him where he was and what had happened. Lan Xichen would find out eventually, and Lan Wangji preferred that it was directly from him.
At seven in the morning, a nurse walked into the room. “The Jiang Family?” she asked, and Lan Wangji carefully shook Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng awake. They vanished down the sterilised corridor, and Lan Wangji tried not to worry too much.
Half an hour later, they reappeared. “They’ve said he can have up to five visitors at a time,” Jiang Yanli said, almost smiling. “He’s almost awake, but not quite lucid. He’s on a lot of painkillers, but he’ll pull through. A-Xian’s going to be fine. He’ll be absolutely fine.”
Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen exchanged looks. “May we see him briefly? We need to get home and then head to work.”
Jiang Yanli nodded, and that made the visitors four. Nie Huaisang yawned. “I call best friend privileges.”
Mianmian snorted. “So do I.”
Jiang Yanli tilted her head consideringly. “He’ll want to see Wen Ning,” she decided, and Wen Ning jumped, having been pretending to be invisible in the corner.
The five of them headed down the corridor to the wards, and Mianmian slid into the seat beside Lan Wangji. “Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen will be out soon,” she told him commiseratingly. “Then two more can go.”
Lan Wangji nodded. “You and Nie Huaisang,” he said, voice brooking no argument.
Nie Huaisang pulled out his phone. “I won’t be able to stay for long. I’ve got stuff I have to do.”
Lan Wangji raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t mentioned any of that earlier.
Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen reappeared, holding hands and wearing matching relieved smiles. They stayed long enough to tell the remaining three the room number, and vanished into an elevator.
Lan Wangji was left alone in the stark waiting room, trying to cool his racing thoughts. He sighed, and then settled into a meditative pose. The best thing he could do for himself was ignore his worries. Wei Wuxian would be fine. Lan Wangji would see him soon.
The click-clack of Nie Huaisang’s shoes pulled him from his meditation. “I’ve got to drop into Niecorp and tell them I’ll be absent for the next week or so, and then drop into college and tell them the same. I’ll be back in an hour or so, so I’ll see you then.”
He, too, vanished into the hospital elevator, and Lan Wangji stood, taking a deep breath.
He dropped his empty cardboard cup into the recycling bin, and headed to the ward.
Mianmian was sitting in a chair in the corner, typing something furiously on her laptop. Wen Ning sat beside her, ringing his hands. Jiang Chen was in the opposite corner, tapping his foot, a worried frown on his face, phone in hand. Jiang Yanli was sitting on the corner of the bed, stroking Wei Wuxian’s hair.
Lan Wangji noticed absolutely none of that.
Wei Wuxian was sleeping in the hospital bed, limbs more neatly placed than Lan Wangji had ever seen them. His hair was clammy and sticking to his forehead. He had a massive bruise on the side of his face, and he was thinner than Lan Wangji remembered.
Beautiful probably shouldn’t have been the first word that sprung to mind, but it was. Even still, even looking half-dead, Wei Wuxian was still Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji had always found Wei Wuxian beautiful.
He closed the door softly behind him, and Jiang Yanli looked up. “A-Xian,” she whispered. “Look who’s here to see you.”
Wei Wuxian cracked one eye open, and then jerked his head upright. “Ow!” he said, and then, “Lan Zhan!”
Lan Wangji frowned at him, a bolt of fear having gone through him at Wei Wuxian’s pained noise. “Careful,” he admonished, but Wei Wuxian only gave a painful-looking grin.
“Come on, Lan Zhan! I’m invalid, you have to be nice to me.”
Lan Wangji hummed thoughtfully, crossing the room to sit on the bed opposite Jiang Yanli. “When am I not nice to Wei Ying?”
Wei Wuxian choked, and then started laughing. “Oh my god! Who taught Lan Zhan to tease?”
Mianmian leant across from her chair to tap him lightly on the forehead. “You did, you idiot.”
Wen Qing entered though the door. “Stop laughing,” she told him. “Do you want to further damage those cracked ribs of yours?”
Wei Wuxian grinned at her. “Qing-jie! It’s great to see you!”
Wen Qing regarded him. “Wow. They must have you on the good stuff.”
He giggled, despite her glare. “Yep! Everything feels all light and floaty.”
Wen Qing sighed. “Go back to sleep, Wei Wuxian. You need the rest.” She scribbled something on the chart at the bottom of the bed, and then vanished out the door again.
Wei Wuxian yawned. “Sleep, you idiot,” Jiang Cheng snapped from the corner. “I’ll be here when you wake.”
“Aw, you do care, didi!”
Jiang Cheng scoffed. “Shut up. Life was boring without you here.”
Wei Wuxian still somehow had enough energy left to wriggle his eyebrows. “That’s what not I got from watching you and A-Sang.”
“Go the fuck to sleep.”
Wei Wuxian turned his head sideways on the pillow, looking up at Lan Wangji through his eyelashes. “What about you, Lan Zhan? Did you miss me?”
Lan Wangji placed a careful hand on his head, smoothing his hair out of his eyes. “Always. Now sleep.”
Wei Wuxian smiled, soft but true. “I missed you too, Lan Zhan. So much. Okay. I’ll sleep.”
Lan Wangji went to rise from his position, but Wei Wuxian reached out, faster than Lan Wangji would have expected, to grab his arm in an admittedly weak grip. “Stay, Lan Zhan. Please.”
Lan Wangji settled back onto the bed. “Alright. But sleep now, Wei Ying. I’ll be here when you wake.”
Wei Wuxian sighed, and then his face went slack with sleep.
An hour later, Nie Huaisang walked through the door. He placed a tray of boba on the end of Wei Wuxian’s bed, and then started handing out the drinks.
Lan Xichen walked through the door, just behind him. Lan Wangji’s breath caught in his lungs.
“Didi,” Lan Xichen said, and then they were hugging, Lan Wangji’s face pressed against Lan Xichen’s chest.
“Ge,” Lan Wangji mumbled, and Lan Xichen laughed wetly.
“How are you going, Wangji?” he asked, and Lan Wangji pulled back from the hug.
“Better.”
Lan Xichen nodded, releasing him. “Good. I’ve been worried. Now, I’m flying out in an hour and a half, but I thought I’d drop this off.”
He unslung two bags from his back, one the bag Lan Wangji kept a change of clothes and basic toiletries in, the other Lan Wangji’s guqin case.
Something swelled in Lan Wangji’s chest.
“A little birdy told me that the hospital doesn’t mind quiet noise during visiting hours, and you’ll feel better if you have your music,” Lan Xichen said.
Lan Wangji raised an eyebrow. “Should I assume this little birdy carries a fan?”
Behind him, Nie Huaisang squeaked.
Lan Xichen smiled brightly. “You could assume that, perhaps.”
Lan Wangji placed both the bag and the case in a corner, and then bade his brother farewell. “I’ll see you when you return, xiongzhang.”
Lan Xichen squeezed him tight one more time, accepted a cup of boba from Nie Huaisang, and then flew back out the door in order to make it in time for his flight.
Wei Wuxian woke briefly an hour later, for long enough for the nurses to give him some soft foods and for Lan Wangji to marvel afresh at the marvel that was Wei Wuxian, living and breathing and laughing.
He fell asleep again around noon, just after patting Lan Wangji on the arm and telling him, “I won’t hold you here again, but I’ll see you later, right?”
Lan Wangji nodded, waited for his breathing to relax entirely, and then went to the nurses’ station. He achieved permission to play, as long as he remained in the courtyard that all the rooms had access to.
“It’s been ages since we had live music,” one of the nurses remarked, showing him the way. “The last time was those kids from the local school - they came to play to raise money for the hospital. It was nice, Sharon, wasn’t it?”
The other nurse, Sharon, agreed, and then the two of them raced away to the loud beeping of one of the patient’s monitors.
Lan Wangji unpacked the plastic folding guqin stand and lay his guqin on it, smoothing a hand over the wood carefully. He breathed deeply, settling his hands on the strings, and plucked a few notes.
The noise blended pleasantly with the sound of the breeze through the leaves of the trees around him.
Lan Wangji thought through the songs he knew, and then settled on a few traditional ones, meant for aiding with meditation and rest. They would be good for all the patients to hear.
By an hour in, he had attracted a small crowd. A little girl with her arm and leg in painful-looking casts tugged on her mother’s sleeve. “Look, Ma! Doesn’t it sound good?”
A boy, missing all his hair, hobbled into the courtyard.
Lan Wangji finished his song, and then placed his hands on the strings to quiet them. “Does anyone have any requests?”
Nie Huaisang appeared from the direction of Wei Wuxian’s room to lean casually against a tree. “He can play modern things too,” he informed the crowd. “Hey, Lan Wangji, what about Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC?”
He nodded, and then started to play. The song was slightly distorted due to the nature of the instrument, but the melody was still clear enough.
Once he finished, he raised his head once more. The girl with the plaster casts grinned a gap-toothed smile at him. “Can you play Let It Go ? From Frozen?”
Lan Wangji smiled slightly, and played.
After that, a succession of song requests came through. The theme from Game of Thrones, Lizzo’s Juice , Clean Bandit’s Symphony , and ABBA’s Mamma Mia featured, amongst others.
He put his hands on the strings after concluding Super Trouper , and looked up at the crowd.
“Hey, Lan Zhan! Play our song!”
Lan Wangji’s ears flushed red hot as he registered Wei Wuxian’s voice. Wei Wuxian emerged from the crowd, pale and limping, but grinning widely.
“Should you be out of bed?” Lan Wangji questioned.
Wei Wuxian put a finger to his lips. “Shh. I had to come and see you once I woke and heard the music.”
Lan Wangji sighed, but he could never truly resist Wei Wuxian. He strummed the opening chords, and then lost himself in the song he had written Wei Wuxian shortly after they had met.
He finished, eventually, Wei Wuxian’s casual “our song” still ringing in his ears. He just hoped -
One of the people in the crowd opened their mouth. “What a lovely song! What’s it called?”
Well. There went that hope.
Wei Wuxian laughed. “Oh, he won’t even tell me, and he wrote it for me!”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “For you?”
“Yeah! Lan Zhan’s a great friend like that.”
Nie Huaisang snorted from behind Lan Wangji. “What the frick, Wei Wuxian. What the actual frick.”
Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to protest, but Jiang Cheng appeared beside him before he could. “Wei Wuxian! What the fuck are you doing out out of your fucking bed? Get your ass back there now!”
“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian scolded. “There are children present! Mind your language!”
Jiang Cheng scoffed. “Children?”
Wei Wuxian pouted. “Actual children, A-Cheng. You know. Small things that pick up swear words like glue.”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Get back to your room.”
Wei Wuxian grinned from where he was leaning against a bench. “Ah. Yes. About that.”
“Spit it out.”
“I’m not sure I can walk anymore. I'm so tired that my legs are jelly.”
Jiang Cheng growled. “Wei Wuxian!”
“That’s my name! Don’t wear it out.”
The crowd tittered.
“Carry me, didi?” Wei Wuxian asked, holding his arms out.
“No. I’m going to go get you a wheelchair or something.”
“A-Cheng! Lan Zhan would carry me…”
Jiang Cheng snorted. “Then get him to carry you.”
Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Wangji.
Lan Wangji sighed, and started packing his guqin away. “I’ll be here tomorrow, around the same time,” he told the crowd, and then slung his guqin case over his shoulder.
Wei Wuxian looked up at him with wide eyes as he approached. “Lan Zhan! I didn’t think you’d actually do it!”
Jiang Cheng snorted in the corner. Nie Huaisang wandered over to him, smiling teasingly at Lan Wangji.
“Hm,” Lan Wangji said, carefully, and then lifted Wei Wuxian up.
Wei Wuxian made a surprised noise as the world suddenly turned horizontal, and then let out a huff of laughter once he realised Lan Wangji was carrying him.
Lan Wangji adjusted his arm under Wei Wuxian’s knees, and looked down at him. “Are your ribs alright?”
Wei Wuxian looked up at him. “Yeah,” he breathed.
He was very close, Lan Wangji noticed distantly. Perhaps this hadn’t been such a good idea.
He tore his eyes away, and made his way to Wei Wuxian’s ward.
Wen Qing was waiting by the door of Wei Wuxian’s room. She scowled when she saw them. “Idiot walked over there but was too weak to walk back,” Jiang Cheng informed her. “Made Lan Wangji stop his musical performance to carry him back.”
“Ach!” Wei Wuxian interrupted. “Lan Zhan didn’t mind!”
“Hm.”
They settled into a routine at the hospital. The doctors wanted to keep Wei Wuxian there until he was at normal weight and his ribs had started healing, and Jiang Cheng had held a staring competition with Wei Wuxian until he had agreed to attend therapy.
At least one of them was always by Wei Wuxian's side. It was, however, impossible to spend every night in the hospital, and they all had jobs or schooling (or in Nie Huaisang's case, both) to attend.
But through unspoken agreement, they never left Wei Wuxian alone, even when he started to regain his strength and began to roam around the hospital, "just exploring a little bit!"
It was exhausting. They still had their weekly lunches, but that now meant cramming more people that were technically allowed into Wei Wuxian’s room.
Lan Wangji was spread thin between his intensifying coursework and hours at the hospital, either playing in the courtyard or by Wei Wuxian’s side. Both of those things relaxed him and made him happy, of course, but they took away from his time, and studying law had never been called easy.
It was on a particularly bad day that Mianmian found him just outside Wei Wuxian’s door.
“Sometimes it doesn’t quite feel real, does it?”
He hummed his agreement.
Mianmian looked at him, noting the faint bags beneath his eyes and the tray of boba clutched in his hands. “Why don’t you go back to your place and sleep? We won’t mind if you miss just one of weekly meet-ups.”
He looked at her, and almost took her up on the offer. He was drained and shattered. His thoughts swirled just within the constraints of his skull.
But… he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep if he hadn’t reassured himself that Wei Wuxian was there, there and smiling and alive .
He shook his head.
Mianmian nodded slowly. “Okay. Do you want a hug?”
Lan Wangji considered that equally carefully. On one hand, he felt so over-sensitive that the lights of the hospital were painful. On the other hand, Mianmian had always been a good physical tether, and he needed that.
He nodded.
Mianmian shook her head. “You can be an idiot, sometimes, you know that? Stop working yourself into the ground. Something has to give, eventually. We won’t mind if you miss one of these.”
She tugged him closer, pulling his shoulders down to her level so she could better wrap her arms around him. Lan Wangji focused on her presence, and she patted him on the head. “Okay?”
He nodded. His thoughts had settled into his skull. He no longer felt like the fluorescent lighting would split him open.
They went into the room.
Wei Wuxian grinned as they entered, taking in the boba in Lan Wangji’s hands. He grabbed the cups, starting to hand them out around the room, throwing straws with deadly aim.
He had taken Lan Wangji being friends with all of Wei Wuxian’s other friends exceptionally well, Lan Wangji thought. Had anyone told him, seventeen months ago, that he would soon be friends with all of those closest to Wei Wuxian, he would have questioned it a lot. But Wei Wuxian was like that. He had seen and valued Lan Wangji, and so he expected that everyone else would, to.
What he had taken less well was that so many people had gotten together while he was missing.
Wei Wuxian threw a straw to Mianmian. “Stop texting your girlfriend! She’ll be here in like ten minutes.”
Mianmian sighed, putting down her phone to pick up her boba.
Wei Wuxian scrunched up his face. “I still can’t believe it. You and Wen Qing? Really? I have so many questions. How, why, and when, mainly.”
Mianmian scowled at him. “It’s called having a brain and emotional awareness, Wei Wuxian, not that you would know.”
“Ouch, fine, okay, the two scariest women I know are dating, not concerning at all…”
Jiang Cheng snorted. “So mum ranks third?”
Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened, and he tilted his head. “Well…”
Mianmian punched her straw through the plastic film over the bubble tea.
“Yes,” Wei Wuxian said, quickly. He then scowled at Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng shifted the hand holding Nie Huaisang’s hand behind their backs, but not quickly enough.
“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you and A-Sang! That’s been a long time coming. Was me going missing a bit of a catalyst, huh? Did everyone need to find someone else to make up for the lack of Wei Wuxian in their lives?”
Jiang Cheng snorted. “Absolutely not.”
Wei Wuxian held up his hands, grinning at them all from his perch in the middle of the bed. “Mianmian and Wen Qing, shijie and the peacock, Jiang Cheng and A-Sang… did you manage to find Lan Zhan a girlfriend too? I think his type is people like Mianmian.”
Mianmian snorted, hurriedly reaching for a napkin to mop up the tea she’d spit out. “I’m sorry, but what the fuck?”
Wei Wuxian pouted at her. “Mianmian, stop being mean!” He dragged the last word out until he ran out of air.
Wen Qing entered. “What did my amazing girlfriend do this time, just so I can offer my full support?” She pressed a kiss to Mianmian’s cheek and picked up her own boba.
“I just asked if they’d managed to get Lan Zhan a girlfriend!”
Wen Qing spat out her tea, an exact mirror to Mianmian’s earlier reaction. “What the fuck, Wei Wuxian.”
The rest of the room laughed as Mianmian handed Wen Qing her own napkin.
Lan Wangji caught Mianmian’s eye. She tilted her head questioningly, and he gave a slight nod.
“What?” Wei Wuxian protested.
“Wangji’s gay,” Mianmian said.
Wei Wuxian didn’t spit out his drink, but it was very close. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and spluttered. “What? How come I didn’t know? I thought those were the sort of things you are meant to tell your friends!”
“I was under the impression it was fairly obvious,” Lan Wangji said.
Jiang Cheng snorted. “Fairly obvious? Try extremely obvious.”
Wei Wuxian waved his hands around. “How’d you work it out and I didn’t?”
Mianmian answered. “It takes a queer to recognise a queer, Wei Wuxian.”
“But then I would have known!” Wei Wuxian shrieked. “Betrayed by my own gaydar? I cannot believe. This is so unfair. How come I leave for like sixteen months, work out I’m not straight, and come back to something like this? This is absolutely not on me! He’s just more sneaky than you all think.”
Jiang Yanli pressed a hand to her mouth. “A-Xian! You worked it out!”
Wei Wuxian swung to face her. “Huh? Oh. Yeah. I’m not as straight as I thought, haha. Surprise?”
“Yes, huge surprise,” Nie Huaisang said dryly.
Lan Wangji wasn’t sure how to correctly name the feeling in his chest; somewhere awkwardly between hope and resignation.
Wei Wuxian blinked rapidly. “Wait, what do you mean I worked it out?”
Jiang Yanli blushed. Jiang Cheng broke in. “She means all of us have known for actual years, Wei Wuxian. You’re just dumb.”
Wei Wuxian pouted. “Xianxian is not dumb! Xianxian is smart!”
“Smart enough to only work out he was queer after running away and also smart enough to work out Lan Wangji wasn’t straight?” Wen Qing questioned Wei Wuxian.
He spluttered. “He doesn’t really show it!”
Mianmian scoffed. “He’s liked the same guy for literal years now.”
Something funny crossed over Wei Wuxian’s face, but he plastered on a grin. “Years? Wow. And they haven’t noticed?”
“They have no clue.”
“But you think he’s being obvious?”
Jiang Cheng clenched his fist. “He’s being super fucking obvious!”
“Wow. They sure must be dumb.”
“The dumbest,” Mianmian said dryly.
Lan Wangji did his best to not choke on his boba. He hadn’t imagined that they were oblivious to his feelings, but he also hadn’t expected his friends to announce them this publicly.
“It’d be even more annoying,” Jiang Cheng muttered, “if…”
“If what?”
“If…”
Nie Huaisang squeezed his hand.
“If it wasn’t so fucking sweet ,” Jiang Cheng growled. “Almost makes me sick.”
“They go so well together!” Nie Huaisang chirped.
“It’s lovely,” Jiang Yanli added.
Wen Qing put down her tea. “I think they’re good for each other.”
Something warm was rising in Lan Wangji’s chest. They weren’t just discussing his feelings for Wei Wuxian in front of Wei Wuxian, they were showing their approval.
Mianmian punched her straw in and out of her boba cup. “And if he hurts our Wangji, he won’t even see what’s coming for him.”
Lan Wangji let a smile flicker across his face as the rest of his friends agreed with Mianmian.
Wei Wuxian added his own agreement. “Yeah! I’ll scratch up his car or something. But… in terms of long-term damage, I think Lan Xichen’s got him covered.”
Mianmian raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How do you know?”
“When I became friends with Lan Zhan, Lan Xichen pulled me aside and told me in no uncertain terms that I should even consider hurting his brother. It was… terrifying. I honestly didn’t think Lan Xichen had it in him, but there we go. Can’t imagine what an actual shovel talk would be like.”
Lan Wangji blinked. He hadn’t been aware that that conversation had happened, but he wouldn’t put it past his brother. After all, he and Wei Wuxian had become friends long after Lan Wangji had worked out that the other boy had caught his eye in some irreversible way, and Lan Xichen had always been very good at reading his brother.
Jiang Cheng opened his mouth, probably to inform Wei Wuxian that that had indeed been an actual shovel talk, but Nie Huaisang elbowed him in the side. “Give them time,” he hissed, and Jiang Cheng subsided, muttering “idiots” under his breath.
Wei Wuxian ignored them, pointing at Lan Wangji with his straw instead. “You’ve been suspiciously silent about the whole matter.”
Wen Qing scoffed. “More silent than usual?”
Wei Wuxian threw his straw at her, still looking intently at Lan Wangji. He tapped his fingers on his thighs, which had only recently filled out with muscle and flesh once again. Lan Wangji tried not to stare.
“Tell me about them,” Wei Wuxian said, eventually. “What are they like?”
Lan Wangji took a deep breath. How could he say that? How could he possibly describe Wei Wuxian?
“Brave,” he settled on, eventually. “Selfless. Intelligent.”
“He sounds wonderful,” Wei Wuxian said, giving a slightly strained smile. Lan Wangji frowned at it. Why did Wei Wuxian look like that?
He let out a laugh. “But you’ve only described character traits! I bet that means he’s ugly, huh?”
Lan Wangji shook his head, surprised at his own boldness. “No.”
He took a deep breath, summoned up all the courage he had, aided by how Jiang Yanli smiled at him. “I look at him and know he is the most beautiful person I will ever see.”
Jiang Yanli pressed a hand over her delighted smile. Jiang Cheng mimed throwing up until Nie Huaisang leant into his arm.
“Oh?” Wei Wuxian said, eyes filled with a teasing light. “Anything else?”
Lan Wangji shook his head. “I’ve said too much already.”
Mianmian made a disappointed noise from the corner. Lan Wangji tore his eye away from Wei Wuxian to look at her. She and Wen Qing, in sync, mimed eating popcorn.
Wei Wuxian looked around the room. “You all clearly know who this mysterious man is! Give me some clues, why don’t you?”
“Absolutely not,” Jiang Cheng scowled. “Give the guy some peace.”
Pouting, Wei Wuxian turned to Nie Huaisang. “A-Sang, my bestest ever friend, why don’t you tell me just one little tinsy fact about Lan Zhan’s crush?”
Nie Huaisang cuddled even closer to Jiang Cheng. “After you blocked me on all social media and dropped off the face of the earth for ten months? I think not.”
“I said sorry for that!”
“And we all knew I was still going to make you pay, just a bit.”
Wei Wuxian deflated from his faked anger. “Fine.” He cast his eyes around the room. Not a single person gave any indication that they would tell him anything. He pouted. “I just want to tease him a little bit about being sweet on some guy! Come on…”
Wen Qing dropped her head onto Mianmian’s shoulder. “You’re acting like you don’t already accidentally tease him about his crush all the time. I’m not helping make it worse.”
“Besides,” Nie Huaisang added, “when you do find out it’s going to be uncomfortable to be in a room with you two.”
“I wouldn’t tease him that much!”
“That,” Nie Huaisang said, adding a pause for dramatic affect, “is not what I meant.”
He turned and, very obviously, winked at Lan Wangji.
Lan Wangji blinked and turned his head away. He would not respond to such an insinuation.
Eventually, it was just the two of them in Wei Wuxian’s room. Lan Wangji didn’t move from his seat at the base of Wei Wuxian’s bed. He would take every scrap of closeness he would get, until Wei Wuxian told him to leave. He had never claimed to be as virtuous as everyone assumed him to be. Lan Wangji knew he was greedy, if only for this.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Wei Wuxian asked, quietly. He seemed subdued. Lan Wangji cast him a worried look.
“I thought it was obvious.”
Wei Wuxian laughed, almost bitterly. “Lan Zhan, I’m emotionally unaware. There was no chance I would have noticed.”
“I realised that, eventually.”
“So why not?”
Lan Wangji stared at the blank wall. He hadn’t thought it would affect Wei Wuxian this badly, to be honest. He had always felt like he was on the peripherals of Wei Wuxian’s friendship groups. “I didn’t know how,” he admitted, eventually.
Wei Wuxian’s warm hand found its place on Lan Wangji’s shoulder. “Are you doing okay, Lan Zhan?”
Lan Wangji stiffened. Of all things, he didn’t want to talk about how spread thin he felt, how weak and useless he was, how he was struggling to balance everything.
“You look tired,” Wei Wuxian continued, oblivious. Lan Wangji frowned. It had been obvious Mianmian, and now to Wei Wuxian. The rest of his friends were bound to have noticed too. He didn’t bother replying to Wei Wuxian. He had made a statement, not asked a question, and Lan Wangji already felt stripped of words.
“Do you have anything that needs to be done today?”
Lan Wangji shook his head. He didn’t look directly at Wei Wuxian, but he could hear the smile in his voice. He felt tired down to his very bones. If Wei Wuxian wanted to go walking somewhere, Lan Wangji would try. Lan Wangji would always try.
“Great!” Wei Wuxian said, and the hand on Lan Wangji’s shoulder was tugging him backwards.
He landed with a soft exhale of air on the mattress to Wei Wuxian’s grinning face above him. “Don’t you dare move!” Wei Wuxian admonished, shuffling down the bed to take of Lan Wangji’s shoes.
“Comfortable?” he asked, and Lan Wangji blinked. What was Wei Wuxian doing?
Wei Wuxian crawled back up to Lan Wangji’s face. “I’m not even on the saline drip anymore,” he explained, “and that means no more cables and fluid lines and shit. I honestly think I’m only still here because the Jiangs pay for the room. Oh, and the physiotherapist doesn’t trust that I would be good if I was at home. Which. Fair enough.”
Lan Wangji listened to the ebb and flow of his words as he tugged blankets over Lan Wangji and, to Lan Wangji’s surprise, himself.
“Is this okay?” Wei Wuxian asked, quietly, as he settled against Lan Wangji’s side. Lan Wangji resisted the urge to roll onto his side and pull Wei Wuxian closer. He hummed his assent instead.
Wei Wuxian tensed, and then let out a soft laugh. “I could feel that in your chest, Lan Zhan!”
Lan Wangji made another soft noise. He wasn’t quite awake enough to form a proper reply. Wei Wuxian shifted, and then a wiry arm slipped over Lan Wangji’s chest. “Sleep, Lan Zhan.”
He gave into the exhaustion tugging at his eyelids and fell asleep to the ebb and flow of Wei Wuxian’s breath on the side of his neck.
Lan Wangji woke to a nurse carrying a dinner tray in. In his sleep, he’d broken his decades-long habit of sleeping on his back in favour of turning unconsciously into Wei Wuxian, cradling the slightly smaller man with his body.
The nurse pressed a finger to her lips when she saw his open eyes. Right. Wei Wuxian was asleep, and Wei Wuxian needed all the sleep he could get.
“That’s the best I’ve seen him sleep in a long while,” she whispered, and Lan Wangji forced himself to turn back onto his back and straighten out his limbs. Wei Wuxian would be horrified to wake with Lan Wangji curled around him.
Then he registered the nurse’s words. Some of his surprise must have shown on his face, because she shook her head. “Nightmares,” she explained, and then gestured to the dinner tray. “There’s two main meal options. What’ll he have, when he wakes?”
Lan Wangji answered without really thinking. “He’ll have the spiciest. If there’s nothing spicy, he prefers pork to chicken.” At his side, Wei Wuxian made a sleepy sound at the close noise, and threw a leg over Lan Wangji’s thighs. He stopped breathing.
The nurse smiled at him. “You take good care of your young man, now.”
She was out the door before he could even begin to process that. “He’s not -” he said, uselessly, and then went to untangle himself from Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian was naturally clingy, that was all. Lan Wangji just happened to be there. He wasn’t sure if he could stand this casual, trusting softness for much longer. It wouldn’t last. It wasn’t his to have.
As he went to slide from the bed, Wei Wuxian’s hand curled into the sheets beside him. “Lan Zhan,” he said, the sounds made soft by sleep.
Lan Wangji froze.
Wei Wuxian tipped his head to the other side, giving a soft snore. “Lan Zhan,” he said again, and Lan Wangji wavered.
Wei Wuxian turned to the warm spot Lan Wangji had just vacated and curled tighter into it. It could have been Lan Wangji’s imagination, but Wei Wuxian seemed to shiver.
His resolve broke. He slid back into the bed and Wei Wuxian plastered himself on immediately, warm, heavy limbs finding places on Lan Wangji’s body.
Lan Wangji relaxed into the mattress, and let himself drift away to the pretense that he could have this - Wei Wuxian, asleep and trusting and close.
When Wei Wuxian woke, he was warm. That in and of itself was strange - he hadn’t felt truly warm in a long time. Sleeping on the concrete floor had been cold, always cold. And in the hospital, everything was slightly cool to touch, sheets and blankets included. He was never cold , in the hospital, but he was never warm either.
Thoughts of where he had been threatened to overwhelm him, so he turned over and shoved his face into Lan Wangji’s shoulder. He was still half-asleep, and feeling cold wasn’t something he wanted to deal with, not now. That was something he would deal with in his therapist’s office, not here.
Wait.
Shoved his face in Lan Wangji’s shoulder?
Suddenly awake, Wei Wuxian peeled himself away from the warmth. He remembered pulling Lan Wangji down to take a late afternoon nap. He didn’t remember curling like an octopus around the man, but that had been an unconscious decision, most likely. Sleeping Wei Wuxian didn’t have the sense of propriety or restraint that awake Wei Wuxian did.
Lan Wangji asleep was a thing of beauty, truth to be told. The lines of his face relaxed, he looked so terribly young and soft. Wei Wuxian resisted the urge to run a hand over his cheekbones, smooth his hair away from his face.
He was glad that, for once, he had woken before his friend. Lan Wangji would have been made uncomfortable by how close Wei Wuxian was clinging to him. He had adjusted to Wei Wuxian’s level of casual closeness, but this… this was pushing it too far.
Lan Wangji would probably allow it anyway, because he was amazing like that, but Wei Wuxian never wanted to make him uncomfortable.
There was a dinner tray sitting on the table. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but it would give him something to do other than stare pathetically at Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji, who was asleep.
Wei Wuxian, stop being fucking creepy , he told himself, and went to clamber out of the bed.
A warm hand locked around his wrist, tugging him back. With his weak legs and reduced body mass, he went flying onto the bed. “Lan Zhan,” he protested, but upon closer examination, Lan Wangji was still asleep.
Wei Wuxian laughed weakly. “Who would have thought sleeping Lan Zhan had it in him?”
He carefully pried Lan Wangji’s fingers away from his wrist. “I gotta go, Lan Zhan,” he whispered.
Lan Wangji let him go. Lan Wangji always let him go. Wei Wuxian tried not to hold it against him.
“.... ‘lone.” Lan Wangji muttered.
Wei Wuxian grinned. The Lan Wangji, talking in his sleep? Who would have guessed! Wei Wuxian had never heard him talk in his sleep before, and he’d been witnessed to many times Lan Wangji had passed out on nine on the dot while studying.
Thinking of nine pm… A quick glance to his phone told him it was past ten at night. Lan Wangji would likely not approve of being woken.
Wei Wuxian looked down at Lan Wangji softly. He should just move quietly out of the bed, leave Lan Wangji to his clearly needed sleep.
Wei Wuxian had never been good at doing what he should.
“Hey, Lan Zhan…” he whispered.
No response.
“Lan Zhan, can you hear me?”
Lan Wangji turned his head slightly on the pillow. “Yes,” he mumbled.
Wei Wuxian pressed a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. This was so goddamn cute . For a second, he thought about taking his phone and filming it, but Lan Wangji probably wouldn’t be too happy with that. It seemed a bit too much like an invasion of privacy.
And besides… this Lan Wangji could be just for Wei Wuxian to witness.
“Why didn’t you wanna let me go, Lan Zhan?”
Lan Wangji huffed.
“Come on, Lan Zhan… What’d you say then?”
Lan Wangji’s fists clenched in the sheets. Wei Wuxian backed down. He didn’t need to know that much. Lan Wangji shouldn’t be made uncomfortable.
He went to stand.
Lan Wangji’s hand found his wrist again, in a softer grip this time.
Wei Wuxian waited, breath frozen in his lungs, to see what Lan Wangji would say.
“Don’t…” he muttered. Don’t what? Wei Wuxian thought to himself.
“Don’t leave me alone,” Lan Wangji said, and Wei Wuxian went from feeling frozen to feeling shattered. What?
Had Lan Wangji really been alone? No, he’d had Mianmian and Jiang Yanli and Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng and Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen. He hadn’t been alone.
Right?
Lan Wangji’s lips were still parted, and, mechanically, Wei Wuxian leant down to hear the final word he spoke.
“Again.”
Wei Wuxian flinched. Oh god, he hadn’t been expecting that. He’d expected nonsensical dream mutterings, or maybe something as earnest and sweet as when he was drunk.
Not -
Not this .
Wei Wuxian tugged the dinner tray towards himself, managing to snag it with the tips of his fingers. He ate one-handed as best he could. The food was as spicy as it ever got in a hospital, and it was pork. As close to his favourite as he’d been able to have while recovering.
Lan Wangji’s hand around his wrist slackened, but never let go completely. Once he’d finished eating, Wei Wuxian intertwined their fingers. He debated reaching for his phone, maybe texting Nie Huaisang or Jiang Cheng, but he still felt shaken.
And he was tired.
His exhaustion was absolutely the main reason he pushed the tray back away and crawled back under the blankets, still holding Lan Wangji’s hand.
“I’m not going anywhere, Lan Zhan,” he said, half to reassure himself. He wasn’t going anywhere. Of course, he’d told himself something similar just before the Jins took him, but he wouldn’t let himself think about that.
He fell asleep to something halfway to guilt settled in his stomach, and Lan Wangji’s warm hand still held tightly in his own. For once, he didn’t feel cold.
They woke in the morning as Jiang Yanli pushed open the door and let out a soft gasp. Lan Wangji woke swiftly - it was past five already, but he had been exhausted - and would have yanked himself away from Wei Wuxian if it wasn’t for the fact that Wei Wuxian was well and truly on top of him.
Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, took his time waking up. He shoved his head into Lan Wangji’s shoulder, and then stretched out, his limbs trembling softly against Lan Wangji’s own. Then, and only then, did he move slightly away, patting Lan Wangji casually on the chest. “Morning, jiejie, Lan Zhan,” he mumbled, and then closed his eyes again.
Lan Wangji blinked at Jiang Yanli.
She muffled a giggle at the expression on his face. “Good morning, A-Xian, Wangji. How did you sleep?”
Wei Wuxian pushed himself upright, his legs sliding away from where they had been tangled with Lan Wangji’s. Lan Wangji used the chance to slide out of the bed and make his way to his bag, taking a change of clothes and beelining (elegantly, as only a Lan would) to the bathroom attached to Wei Wuxian’s room.
Behind him, he heard Wei Wuxian calling out cheerfully. “No nightmares last night, jiejie! I slept the best I had in ages.”
Lan Wangji could hear the amusement in Jiang Yanli’s voice as she replied. “That’s great, A-Xian. I’m so glad to hear it.”
Flushing slightly, he turned on the shower, and thus missed the next part of the conversation.
“And how was Wangji?”
Wei Wuxian froze. “Jiejie…”
“Yes, A-Xian?” She wrapped her arms around him.
“Was Lan Zhan really lonely when I was gone?”
Jiang Yanli hummed. “He told you?”
“He… he talked in his sleep.”
“He missed you a lot, A-Xian.”
“Okay. Well. I’ll never stop annoying him now!”
Jiang Yanli smiled. “I really don’t think he’ll mind.”
Lan Wangji emerged from the bathroom, hair damp and clinging to the sides of his face and the back of his neck. He tried not to read too much into how Wei Wuxian’s eyes danced everywhere except for looking directly at him, but he couldn’t help the worry that curled up in his chest.
Jiang Yanli handed Lan Wangji a cup of hot tea and a croissant from the hospital cafe.
“Oh! One more thing,” she added as Wei Wuxian moved towards the bathroom. “Wen Ning’s going to bring little A-Yuan around later today. They figured he could see you now without being scared of all the equipment.”
Wei Wuxian’s grin brightened by several degrees of magnitude. Lan Wangji felt his own mouth twitch upwards in reply, and then the door closed and, a few moments later, the water turned on.
“Are you okay?” Jiang Yanli asked, and Lan Wangji had to take time to think of the answer.
“Yes,” he decided, eventually. “It will be nice to see Wen Yuan.”
That wasn’t what she had meant, and they both knew it, but she was kind enough to let him get away with it.
Lan Wangji gathered up his guqin, ready to head to the courtyard to play. It never failed to relax and calm him.
Jiang Yanli stopped him on his way out the door. “Wangji,” she said, voice soft. “You and A-Xian do need to talk, at some point.”
He didn’t ask what he needed to talk to Wei Wuxian about. They both knew.
He gave her a curt nod and escaped to the courtyard.
Lan Xichen called half an hour into his playing session. He hesitated to pick up the call, but one of the mothers listening put an arm around her child and hustled them away, and the rest of the crowd followed.
Lan Wangji picked up the call.
“Wangji,” his brother said, and Lan Wangji could feel every part of him relax slightly.
“Brother,” he greeted in return, and Lan Xichen laughed lightly.
They exchanged pleasantries and news. Lan Xichen was due back in the country in another week.
“And how is Wei Wuxian?” Lan Xichen asked, and Lan Wangji firmly ignored the teasing note to his voice.
“He will be released from the hospital as soon as his physiotherapist is certain he will not do damage to himself once at home.”
Lan Xichen laughed, not meanly. “And how long do you think that will be?”
“Another week or two.”
There was a pleasant silence. Lan Wangji found joy in hearing the crackle of his brother’s breath through the phone connection. He found joy in every small thing he could find, now days. It was a leftover habit from the previous few most trying months.
“Wangji,” Lan Xichen said, slowly, and Lan Wangji braced himself. “Have you talked with Wei Wuxian yet?”
Lan Wangji hung up.
It was petty, and he knew it. He just didn’t want to think about what would happen after he and Wei Wuxian had talked.
Wei Wuxian would ignore him or, worse, be awkward around him. Lan Wangji wasn’t sure he could deal with that.
Still, he had been petty and rude. In punishment according to his family rules, he played guqin while reciting the Lan disciplines under his breath until he’d reminded himself of all of them.
By that point, Wen Yuan had arrived. He came barreling into the courtyard, throwing himself beside Lan Wangji and his guqin in a way none of the hospital children had dared. “Hanguang-Jun!” he yelled out as he collided with Lan Wangji.
Wen Yuan hovered his hands above the strings. “Can I touch?”
Lan Wangji hummed, hoisting the boy up into his lap so he could better reach the instrument. Wen Yuan ran his fingers along the wood, solemn and gentle. Lan Wangji almost smiled at the sight. Who had taught the boy to be so respectful?
“May I play it?” Wen Yuan asked, running his fingers along one string.
Lan Wangji hummed thoughtfully, and then shook his head. “Not yet. Your hands are too small.”
Wen Yuan splayed his hands out consideringly, holding them above the strings. Lan Wangji placed his own besides them, a strange tenderness threatening to strangle him once he saw how small Wen Yuan’s hands were, compared with his own.
He plucked a few strings until the feeling faded. “See?” he asked, demonstrating how his hands had to move.
Wen Yuan copied him, hands trembling slightly with the position he was holding them in. Lan Wangji hummed. Little Wen Yuan had potential, should he ever wish to take up the guqin. He would have to mention it to Wen Qing.
Wen Yuan took one of his hands, turning it over and running curious fingers over the various calluses Lan Wangji had accumulated. Lan Wangji surprised himself with how he didn’t feel discomforted.
Eventually, he put Wen Yuan on the ground and packed away his guqin. “Have you seen Wei Wuxian?” he asked.
“Xian-gege!” Wen Yuan cheered, grabbing his hand again and tugging him down the courtyard in the direction of Wei Wuxian’s ward.
“A-Yuan has something important to tell Xian-gege,” Wen Yuan said solemnly.
“And what is that?”
“A reminder,” Wen Yuan said, and Lan Wangji was helpless against the soft smile breaking over his face. “Xian-gege is bad at remembering things, see,” he explained. “So he told me that I had to remind him of a thing that I can’t tell you because it’s a secret, so I told Granny so she could remind me, and then she reminded me when Ning-ge was just about to bring me here, so now I gotta remind Xian-gege.”
Lan Wangji took a moment to process the babble, and then he squeezed Wen Yuan’s hand. “Your Xian-gege is lucky to have you,” he said, eventually, and he meant it.
Wen Yuan began skipping, tugging Lan Wangji’s hand back and forth. It felt like too short of a time when they arrived at Wei Wuxian’s door.
Wen Yuan reached up to tug the handle of the door, shoving it open with his entire body. In the room, Wei Wuxian sat up abruptly in his bed. “A-Yuan,” he breathed, and Wen Yuan beamed at him.
Wen Yuan tugged Lan Wangji into the room, and then pointed at the bed. “Up!” he said.
Wen Qing laughed. “A-Yuan,” she said. “What else do you need to say?”
Wen Yuan tapped his forehead. “Oh! Up, please!”
Lan Wangji bent down to lift him up on the bed, and as soon as he was let go, Wen Yuan scrambled for Wei Wuxian. “Xian-gege!”
Wei Wuxian held out his hands, and Wen Yuan threw himself into the hug. After a minute or so, he started squirming and Wei Wuxian, although obviously reluctant, let him go.
Wen Yuan sat back on his haunches. “I met your Hanguang-Jun!” he told Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji could feel the blush start around his ears. Your Hanguang-Jun? Was he that obvious?
Wen Qing sent him a slight look that he interpreted as yes, you are that obvious . He resisted the urge to sigh.
Wei Wuxian had spluttered a bit, but then patted Wen Yuan on the head. “What did you think?”
“He’s so cool! He let me touch his guqin!”
Wei Wuxian’s mouth opened slightly in surprise, and then he turned to grin at Lan Wangji. “Lan Zhan! I think you made his day with that!”
Lan Wangji inclined his head, politeness the only defense against the emotions that swirled within him whenever Wei Wuxian was genuinely thankful. “It was no problem. Wen Yuan shows talent, should he wish to take up the instrument when he is older.”
“Should he wish -” Wei Wuxian repeated, and then laughed. “Didn’t you start when you were younger than he was?”
Lan Wangji resisted the urge to squirm. “Children should have a choice,” he said, firmly.
Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened slightly, but he respected Lan Wangji’s unspoken wish for a subject change and turned back to Wen Yuan. “You’ve grown so much, A-Yuan!”
Wen Yuan nodded proudly. “Like a radish!”
Wen Qing glared at Wei Wuxian. “He buried himself in the garden every day for a month after we moved.”
Wei Wuxian looked half-sheepish, half-amused. “It clearly worked!”
Wen Yuan bounced up and down while his aunt gritted her teeth together.
“I’m glad you came to see me, A-Yuan,” Wei Wuxian said.
Wen Yuan grinned at him. “A-Yuan always wants to see Xian-gege.”
Wei Wuxian laughed, and then lifted Wen Yuan up, tossing him lightly in the air. “A-Yuan has grown! What have you been learning?”
Wen Yuan squealed as he was thrown up again, and when he came down, he settled on the mattress and tapped a finger on his chin. “I’m learning math!”
Wei Wuxian looked at Wen Qing. “Counting things, mostly,” she supplied, and he nodded.
“Our little A-Yuan is so smart, huh?”
“A-Yuan remembers lots of things,” the child told him proudly, and then jumped up.
“Oh! You told me I had to remind you of something!”
“What something?” Wei Wuxian asked, amused.
“It’s a secret!”
Wei Wuxian cupped a hand around his ear. “Does A-Yuan wish to whisper the secret?”
Wen Yuan pressed his mouth close to Wei Wuxian’s ear, and whispered something Lan Wangji couldn’t make out.
Wei Wuxian choked, and then leant forward, coughing slightly. His face went red, and then white, and then he covered it with his hands.
“Wen Yuan! When did I tell you to remind me to do that?”
Wen Yuan tilted his head. “You smelled funny,” he suggested. “Granny said you weren’t feeling well and we should leave you alone. You had a big headache the next day.”
Wei Wuxian groaned. “Wen Qing! Why’d you ever let me get drunk?”
Wen Qing shook her head. “You’re an adult. You make your own choices.”
Wei Wuxian wailed into his hands. “I never wanted to be reminded of that day! I was better off ignoring it!”
Wen Yuan looked down at his own hands. “A-Yuan is sorry,” he offered, voice small.
Wei Wuxian swept him up into a hug. “It’s not A-Yuan’s fault. Xian-gege is just being silly, okay?”
Wen Yuan pulled away so he could nod sagely. “Qing-jie says Xian-gege does that all the time.”
Wei Wuxian choked and glared at Wen Qing, who smiled serenely.
Wen Yuan ignored them, tugging on Wei Wuxian’s hair. “Xian-gege come home soon?” he asked, hopeful.
Wei Wuxian tugged on Wen Yuan’s hair. “Soon! Very very soon. But my home might not be your home.”
Wen Yuan sat cross-legged, a confused look on his face. He thought that through. Eventually, his expression cleared. “But Xian-gege will come visit?”
Wei Wuxian beamed at him. “Of course!”
Eventually, Wen Yuan tired out, as did Wei Wuxian. Wen Qing scooped the toddler up, pushing Wei Wuxian down in the bed with her other hand. “I’m taking this one child home, and this other child is going to sleep.”
Wei Wuxian made noises of complaint. Lan Wangji watched him, overly fond. Every atom of him was aligned to Wei Wuxian. Even as Wei Wuxian pouted and complained, Lan Wangji couldn’t bring himself to try to feel annoyed. This was Wei Wuxian, alive and happy. He would have given anything for this, and now here it was.
Wen Qing pulled open the door, only to reveal Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng’s face scrunched up at the sight of Wen Yuan. Wen Yuan, on the other hand, looked delighted to meet another person, despite clinging as tightly to Wen Qing as possible.
“Purple-gege?” he said, scrunching his face up to match Jiang Cheng’s.
Jiang Cheng blinked. “Purple-gege?”
Wen Yuan shrieked. “Purple-gege is the one who fights off all the nasty monsters and is always angry!” He leant closer to Jiang Cheng, whispering conspiratorially. “But that’s only to hide that he actually cares a lot, so we’re not allowed to hold it against him.”
Jiang Cheng’s face went through several complicated mutations. He settled on glaring at Wei Wuxian, who just propped his chin up on his hand and grinned cheekily, not even bothering with his usual ‘who, me?’ attitude. “A-Cheng!” he greeted happily, and Jiang Cheng crossed the room in a few strides to swat him on the head.
“Idiot,” he grunted, but he didn’t look displeased. He looked… seen. Lan Wangji could relate.
Wen Qing huffed. “Jiang Cheng, are you going to greet the child or not?”
Jiang Cheng turned back and patted Wen Yuan roughly on the head. Wen Yuan beamed at him, taking his hand and shaking it roughly.
Wen Qing hefted Wen Yuan up further onto her shoulder. “What did you have to remind Wei Wuxian about, A-Yuan?”
Wen Yuan mimed zipping his lips as Wei Wuxian burst into protest. “Don’t tell her, A-Yuan!”
Jiang Cheng tilted his head. “Is it a secret?”
Wen Yuan nodded frantically. “Very secret!”
Jiang Cheng hummed, tapping on his chin. “Well, you’ve already reminded him, haven’t you? So doesn’t that mean it’s no longer a secret?”
That made absolutely no sense, but Wen Yuan considered it. Wei Wuxian glared at Jiang Cheng. “Betrayal,” he muttered.
Eventually, Wen Yuan nodded, and grabbed Jiang Cheng’s face to drag him closer. He whispered something into Jiang Cheng’s ear, and then into Wen Qing’s. Jiang Cheng’s eyes when wide, and then he doubled over laughing. Wei Wuxian threw a pillow at him.
“Oh my god,” Jiang Cheng wheezed. Wei Wuxian huffed.
Wen Qing had merely blinked and then smirked. “I think you should take A-Yuan’s advice,” she told Wei Wuxian.
He shrieked and threw his other pillow at her. She dodged. “Really?” she asked, “Throwing pillows at children?”
Jiang Cheng held the door open for her, ushering her and Wen Yuan out of the room. He pointed a threatening finger at Wei Wuxian as he also, for some reason unknown to Lan Wangji, backed out of the room mere minutes after he’d arrived. “I’ll break your fucking legs if you don’t sit down and have an actual goddamn adult conversation!”
Wei Wuxian gasped. “Jiang Cheng! There are children present!”
Jiang Cheng slammed the door shut. “Stop being a fucking idiot and have some actual communication!” he called from the other side.
“You sound like my therapist!” Wei Wuxian shouted back.
“Then fucking listen!” Jiang Cheng yelled, and then he could be heard stomping down the corridor.
Lan Wangji looked at Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian looked at the blanket in his lap, and began studiously unpicking the threads.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, quietly.
Wei Wuxian still didn’t look at him. “Lan Zhan,” he sighed, and Lan Wangji relaxed, just slightly.
If those comments had been made to him, he would have known exactly what they wanted him to talk with Wei Wuxian about. But like this… “What are they talking about?”
Wei Wuxian shrugged uncomfortably. “They want me to have an adult conversation. You know, act like my age.”
Lan Wangji frowned. Wei Wuxian didn’t like head-on confrontations. He preferred to let things be known subtly, to joke and jibe and tease his way into an understanding with people. Lan Wangji knew that the vast majority of that tendency had come from how he had grown up. “That doesn’t sound like Wei Ying,” he said, carefully.
Wei Wuxian huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.” He patted the bed besides him, a clear invitation; come here .
Lan Wangji went, sitting so carefully close to Wei Wuxian that he could feel the heat radiating from him. “Wei Ying should not have to be anything but Wei Ying,” he said, placing each word carefully. His family had had enough tragedies through forcing people to be what they were not. He would not, could not, watch another occur. Not to Wei Wuxian, who was the most free, most beautifully themselves person that Lan Wangji could think of, even when it led him deep into trouble.
Wei Wuxian laughed. It didn’t sound too forced. “You’re too good, sometimes. But I think they might be right. I think that if I try this my way, it will all fall apart.”
Lan Wangji hummed. “And that would be a bad thing?”
“The worst.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“I just… I don’t want to fuck this up. It could be great, right? It could be amazing, but I could fuck it up so easily. You know?”
Lan Wangji thought of the fragile thing he’d built with Wei Wuxian, of how he was too terrified to even mention the possibility of it becoming anything different to friendship. “Mn.”
Wei Wuxian ran a hand over his face. “God, I need more alcohol before I’m ready to have more of this conversation.”
Lan Wangji’s fingers itched for his guqin. This conversation was opening so many more questions in his mind.
Wei Wuxian laughed, hollow. “I…”
He leant against Lan Wangji’s side. Lan Wangji tried to find the middle ground between stiffening and melting entirely. “Why is rambling normally so easy to me, but it’s not now?” Wei Wuxian complained, some of the tension falling out of him.
Lan Wangji smiled, just slightly. It was strange to see Wei Wuxian like this, out of his depth and uncertain. This was more like him. “It is okay if you do not want to tell me,” he said, and Wei Wuxian leaned even further into him.
“Thanks, Lan Zhan.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Lan Wangji counting each rise and press of Wei Wuxian’s shoulder against his own.
Out of the blue, Wei Wuxian started talking again. “You have someone you like, don’t you, Lan Zhan?”
Lan Wangji froze, considering the answers to that question. “Yes,” he settled on, eventually.
Wei Wuxian nodded. “Same.” Lan Wangji tried not to feel heartbroken, at that. He would support Wei Wuxian, no matter what. He always would. His personal feelings would never change that.
It was silent for a few more moments, and then Wei Wuxian flopped backwards onto the bed. “Would you say that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder?”
Lan Wangji hummed, considering. “Not really,” he decided. “Reunion does, however.”
Wei Wuxian snorted. “Stuffy old philosophers were wrong, like always. Well. Turns out absence made my heart realise things. Like, you know, that I’ve been in love with someone for a while now.”
Lan Wangji managed to keep breathing. Wei Wuxian wasn’t looking at him, fortunately. He was staring at the ceiling, a slight smile on his face. Beautiful , Lan Wangji thought, and then but not yours to tell so .
“Our friends want me to talk to them,” Wei Wuxian continued. “But it’s just so hard, Lan Zhan.”
Lan Wangji knew Wei Wuxian well enough that he could read the undertone there. I’m scared . He knew the feeling.
“It’s too hard to have an actual conversation about it with them,” Wei Wuxian whined, and Lan Wangji was infinitely glad for the tone. It was a step back to the normal, comfortable-in-himself Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian sat back up, not leaning into Lan Wangji like he had before.
“I keep wanting to just… do something stupid to confess, but they probably wouldn’t like that, and so -”
Lan Wangji cut him off. “If they do not like Wei Ying for being Wei Ying, they do not deserve Wei Ying.”
Wei Wuxian stared at him for a moment, and then laughed, delighted. “Are you saying,” he asked incredulously, “that I should just do something out of the blue and dumb and exactly like me, and that’d be for the best?”
Lan Wangji frowned. “Yes.”
“Okay,” Wei Wuxian said, and kissed him.
Lan Wangji froze. He registered Wei Wuxian’s lips against his own, but he had no idea what to do, what that meant, what Wei Wuxian had intended, and so he couldn’t move. There was too much to think about and process.
Wei Wuxian pulled away after a moment, twisting his hands together. “Sorry,” he said, and he sounded so little like Wei Wuxian that Lan Wangji could barely stand it.
“Why?” Lan Wangji managed.
Wei Wuxian laughed, a horrible, awkward noise. “You said I should do something stupid.”
Lan Wangji could process that. “Yes. But to the person you loved. Not… me.”
Wei Wuxian laughed again, the same laugh. “It’s you, Lan Zhan. I think it’s always been you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. You don’t hate me now, do you?”
The words clicked through his brain, falling neatly into place. He felt like this was a dream, but that didn’t stop the hope from flowering brightly in his rib cage. “I could never hate Wei Ying.”
“Good,” Wei Wuxian said, no longer looking so terribly afraid. “Good. So, I’ll tell our friends that I’ve tried, and then I’ll spend a weekend crying on Nie Huaisang and jiejie, and then this can all go back to normal, right?”
“Is that what you want?”
“Of course not,” Wei Wuxian said, laughing, less painful-sounding than before. “But it’s the best I could have hoped for, given everything.”
“Everything?” Lan Wangji asked. This conversation was turning him in circles. Wei Wuxian had said that the person he loved was Lan Wangji. Didn’t that automatically mean…
“Well, yeah. You like someone else. That meant I had no chance.”
Lan Wangji frowned at him. “I don’t.”
“Huh?”
“Like someone else. I don’t.”
“You said you did!”
Lan Wangji frowned, scouring his memory. “No. I never said that.”
“Just after Mianmian said you were gay! Everyone said you’d liked someone else for years!”
Lan Wangji shook his head. “Never someone else.”
Wei Wuxian frowned at him. “Just say what you mean, Lan Zhan.”
“It has always been Wei Ying. Always.”
Wei Wuxian blinked, once, twice. “Oh my god,” he said, faintly, and then covered his face with his hands. “Lan Zhan! You can’t just say stuff like that!”
Lan Wangji smiled, faintly. Hope and love were glowing in his chest. He felt like he could take on the world. Well. Jiang Cheng, at the very least. “Does that mean you won’t be spending the weekend crying on Nie Huaisang and Jiang Yanli?”
Wei Wuxian’s face emerged from behind his hands. “If you don’t kiss me right now,” he said, “I’m going to be very annoyed, Lan Zhan.”
Smiling helplessly, Lan Wangji obeyed.
After a few soft, exploratory kisses, Wei Wuxian started laughing helplessly. He fell backwards onto the bed, tugging Lan Wangji down with him.
Lan Wangji made an inquiring noise. “I’ve been so stupid, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian explained. “We could have been doing this for - how long? Years?”
Lan Wangji hummed. “Yes. But we have this now.” He had always treasured what he had had with Wei Wuxian, no matter what form it had taken.
Wei Wuxian grinned up at him, then leaned up to kiss him on the nose. “I’m going to be the best boyfriend ever, Lan Zhan. Just you wait!”
Lan Wangji smiled at him, delighting in the way a blush spread across his cheeks at the sight. He doubted that, but Wei Wuxian would be Wei Wuxian, and that was all Lan Wangji had ever dreamed of.
He leant down to kiss him again, marvelling in the way he was allowed this now. It didn’t surprise him when the kiss turned deeper, more heated. Wei Wuxian was flush against him, Lan Wangji’s thighs bracketing his hips, Wei Wuxian’s arms curled around Lan Wangji’s shoulders. The presence and the heat of him set Lan Wangji alight. Wei Wuxian panted slightly as Lan Wangji turned his attention to the slender curve of Wei Wuxian’s neck, to the cut of his cheekbones.
Eventually, Wei Wuxian groaned out his name. “Lan Zhan, please kiss me properly, come on.”
Lan Wangji obliged, seeking out each and every way that he could make Wei Wuxian gasp against his mouth.
That, of course, was the scene Jiang Cheng walked into. He shrieked, almost dropping his phone, and then picked up a discarded pillow from the floor to throw at them.
Lan Wangji felt very close to growling at him.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jiang Cheng asked, rhetorically. “We tell you to talk and leave you alone for half a fucking hour, and this is what we get in thanks?”
Wei Wuxian laughed, winding his hands tighter against Lan Wangji’s back. “I’m very grateful, Jiang Cheng. Now, can you leave us alone?”
Jiang Cheng glared at him. “Absolutely not! We’re in a goddamn hospital! Anyone could walk in!”
Wei Wuxian smiled at him sweetly, and then tugged Lan Wangji’s head back down.
“I can’t believe A-Sang was right,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, voice indicating he’d turned around to avoid looking at them. “You two are going to be impossible to be in a room with now.”
Wei Wuxian let Lan Wangji go, but grinned up at him, making an exaggerated moan of Lan Wangji’s name.
“Lan Wangji!” Jiang Cheng snapped. “Stop molesting my brother in his sickbed!”
Lan Wangji looked down at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian smiled up at him, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. “We have all the time in the world,” he whispered, and, reluctantly, Lan Wangji stood up and straightened out his clothing.
Jiang Cheng yanked him towards the door. “I can’t believe you two,” he said, fixing Lan Wangji with a glare. “If you hurt my brother, I’ll break your goddamn legs.”
Lan Wangji hummed. That seemed fair.
Jiang Cheng turned to Wei Wuxian. “He’s too damn good for you. If you fuck this up and hurt him, I will break your fucking legs too.”
Wei Wuxian stretched out on the bed, grinning. Lan Wangji allowed his eyes to trail along the edge of his shirt as it lifted. “Aw, A-Cheng! You do care!”
“Shut the fuck up,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, pulling Lan Wangji out of the room and closing the door.
Nie Huaisang grinned at them as they entered the waiting room. “Ooooh, so they did talk?”
“Talking is hardly what I’d call it,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, and Nie Huaisang skipped happily over to his side.
“At least they got there, in the end,” Nie Huaisang said, comfortingly. Lan Wangji wanted to protest, but he wasn’t exactly wrong.
Nie Huaisang flicked his fan towards Lan Wangji. “I’m so glad it all worked out, Ji-xiong! I’d sure hate it if either you or Wei-xiong got hurt,” he said, pouting.
Lan Wangji blinked at him. He had the distinct feeling he’d just been threatened.
Of course, Jiang Yanli walked out of the elevator at that moment, meaning Lan Wangji was now surrounded by three of Wei Wuxian’s closest friends and family.
“A-jie!” Jiang Cheng called. “Wei Wuxian got himself a boyfriend!”
Jiang Yanli beamed at them, her hand coming to rest on her belly as had become her habit over the past few months. “Really?”
Lan Wangji nodded.
“I’m so glad! A-Xian deserves the best,” she said, wrapping her arms around Lan Wangji in a not-unwelcome hug, standing on the tips of her toes. “No matter what happens,” she whispered into his ear, “you’ll always be friends with us, okay?”
Lan Wangji set her back down on her feet and smiled at her. He felt like he was overflowing with smiles. It had been a strange day. A good one, yes, but a strange one nonetheless. He wanted to see Wei Wuxian again, as soon as possible.
“I’ll message everyone,” she said, pulling out her phone. “Are you going to call your brother, Wangji?”
Lan Wangji nodded. That was probably a good idea, although Lan Xichen was going to be unbearably kind and smug about it.
Wei Wuxian was released from the hospital a week later, with strict warnings about being on his best behaviour. The entire group of friends bundled into Jiang Yanli’s apartment, joined by Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen.
Wei Wuxian was alight, the grin only not present on his face when he was slurping down his sister’s soup. He didn’t even malalign his sister’s husband, instead exchanging ugly faces with Jiang Cheng every time Jin Zixuan dared speak.
Mianmian, sitting on one side of Lan Wangji, made a point of nudging an elbow into his side every time Wei Wuxian glanced over to smile at him, eyes shining brightly. Lan Wangji couldn’t bring himself to mind the bruise he was sure would be forming on his ribcage. Besides - he sent Mianmian a careful glance, directed pointedly at where she was holding hands with Wen Qing beneath the table. Mianmian glared at him. “Shut up,” she mumbled, then continued shoveling food into her mouth with her left hand.
Lan Wangji smiled, watching as Wei Wuxian began an animated retelling of one of Wen Yuan’s many adventures. He would like to have this forever, if he could.
Eventually, though, the meal concluded and the various attendees made their way out the door. Wei Wuxian slung an arm around Lan Wangji’s waist. “Your brother’s back tomorrow, right?”
“Mn.”
“We’ll have to go meet him at the airport, then,” Wei Wuxian decided, and Lan Wangji was sure he had to be glowing with the force of this joy.
“Pick me up on your way to the airport?” Wei Wuxian asked, and Lan Wangji nodded. From the kitchen, Jiang Cheng gave a pointed cough.
Wei Wuxian grinned, leaning in for a kiss. Lan Wangji melted into him until Jiang Cheng yelled something and Wei Wuxian broke away.
“I’m at jiejie’s for a week,” he said, slightly breathless. Lan Wangji tried not to feel too smug. “And then I’ll have an apartment of my own.”
Lan Wangji gave a pleased hum. They’d debated over whether Wei Wuxian could live at Lan Wangji’s, but, despite everything, that had been moving too quickly. They both still needed their own spaces.
“You’ll have to help me come settle in,” Wei Wuxian said, winking, and then laughed at the expression that must have been on Lan Wangji’s face.
“Dinner out first, at least,” he decided, ignoring Jiang Cheng’s call of “Damn right!” from the kitchen.
Wei Wuxian laughed. “Of course. Whatever you want, Lan Zhan.”
Lan Wangji kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he promised, and he knew they could both hear the echoes of that - tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and the day after that, stretching long into the future.
He left Jiang Yanli’s apartment to the sight of Wei Wuxian, leaning against the doorframe, blowing him kisses.