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Wei Wuxian was soaked to the bone, miserable, and cold, and if he caught a cold from getting drenched in the downpour because he'd ignored Jiang Cheng's reminder to bring an umbrella, he'd never hear the end of it. Thankfully, he'd finally made the journey across campus back in his dorm and was halfway down the corridor to his room, looking forward to dry clothes and a hot cup of instant noodles, when he saw Lan Wangji walking towards him from the other end of the hallway.

The appearance of the other boy was almost enough to tempt him to turn around and walk back out into the rain just to avoid him. They knew each other, but neither of them spoke to each other, since they had been at loggerheads since they were freshmen. Most of it was probably because of The Incident, as Wei Wuxian liked to call it, which had happened during orientation week, but it didn't help that Wei Wuxian seemed to be stepping on Lan Wangji's toes all the time without meaning to. How was he supposed to know that Lan Wangji had been trying to make a recording of himself playing the violin for an audition for the National Symphony Orchestra in the music room next to his when his rock band had been practising their new song at maximum volume, and how was it his fault that Lan Wangji hadn't saved the essay he had been working on the whole day on the day that Wei Wuxian accidentally caused the power in the entire dorm to go out because he had been doing a small experiment in his room? Besides, neither of them had anything to say to each other because they had nothing in common - well, except that the Resident Assistant of their dormitory level, a fellow second-year student named Meng Yao, hated their guts and the feeling was mutual.

Wei Wuxian was still a couple of doors away from his room. Even if he walked as quickly as possible without making it obvious, he wouldn't be able to get into his room before Lan Wangji walked past. Just then, Lan Wangji looked up and saw him, and he tried to turn and go back to his room, but his weirdly lumpy jacket moved and the tips of two long ears became visible.

"Lan Wangji, are you trying to smuggle a rabbit into the dorms?" Wei Wuxian asked in bewilderment. He knew some people kept fish even though pets weren't allowed, but Lan Wangji was a stickler for the rules.

"I found it," Lan Wangji said defensively. But before he could explain himself further, they both heard someone coming up the stairs while talking on the phone, and unfortunately it was a voice they both recognised - Meng Yao. 

"My room is nearer," Wei Wuxian said, taking a few steps forward and quickly unlocking his door. Lan Wangji followed him without a word of protest and Wei Wuxian slammed the door shut. 

"Just let it out," Wei Wuxian said.

Lan Wangji unzipped his jacket and a little ball of fluff popped its head out, struggling furiously to get out of his grasp. Then Lan Wangji let out a grunt of pain, and the rabbit leapt out and took off like a shot to hide under Wei Wuxian's bed. Unfortunately, along the way, it managed to get a leg hooked on the wiring of a cheap and very unstable floor lamp Wei Wuxian had placed in a corner, and the lamp hit the floor with a crash. 

Lan Wangji cursed under his breath and peered under the bed. "It's all the way in."

"You were gripping too tightly," Wei Wuxian scolded, leaning down to look under the bed as well.

Lan Wangji reached in but the rabbit just curled up into a smaller ball to get away from him, so he tried to back off and bumped his head on the bed frame. "Ouch!" 

"Don't break my bed, Lan Wangji."

There was a knock on the door, and both of them froze. 

"Not that I'm not happy that the two of you are working out your issues, but please keep it safe, sane, and consensual, gentlemen," Meng Yao drawled from the other side of the door. 

Lan Wangji looked at Wei Wuxian in confusion, then dawning horror, and Wei Wuxian almost burst out laughing at the scandalised expression on his face. "Stop listening through my door like a creep, Meng Yao," he yelled out, and couldn't resist adding, "Lan Wangji and I have a lot of issues to work out, and we plan to do it very loudly. Deal with it."

"Why did you say that?" Lan Wangji hissed. 

"To discourage him from hanging around, of course. Or maybe that might encourage him." Wei Wuxian paused, making a face. "I'm sorry for putting that mental image into our heads."

Lan Wangji scowled and just went back to trying to get the rabbit out from under the bed.

In the end, Lan Wangji went out to the stores to buy food and other supplies as he had planned while Wei Wuxian tried to coax the rabbit out from its hiding place. But when Lan Wangji returned, the rabbit was still firmly lodged under Wei Wuxian's bed and refused to be tempted by handfuls of sweet-smelling hay or the variety of fresh vegetables that Lan Wangji had bought.

"Just leave it with me, I don't mind. I'll put out some food and water in a corner and it'll come out when it's ready," Wei Wuxian said, snagging a baby carrot for himself.

Lan Wangji was looking extremely constipated, clearly reluctant to leave the rabbit in Wei Wuxian's dubious care. Wei Wuxian couldn't help rolling his eyes, but it was only then that Wei Wuxian noticed several nasty scratches on Lan Wangji's hand.

"Hey, let me help you with that."

Lan Wangji startled like the damned rabbit that was under Wei Wuxian's bed when Wei Wuxian grabbed his hand, and Wei Wuxian half expected him to dart under the bed to join the rabbit. He dragged Lan Wangji over to his wardrobe and took out his first aid kit, and started cleaning the wounds with antiseptic solution before Lan Wangji could pull his hand away. 

"I'm always getting scrapes and bumps, I'm good at this," Wei Wuxian assured him. "What happened?" 

"Rabbit's cage," Lan Wangji replied tersely. 

Wei Wuxian blinked. "When you said you found the rabbit, I thought you meant you found it running wild. It was in a cage? Lan Wangji, did you steal this rabbit?"

Lan Wangji shook his head, frowning hard at Wei Wuxian. "The cage was abandoned. And locked."

"And locked?" Wei Wuxian said, horrified. "Who would do that to a cute little bunny? How did you get it out?"

"The bars were rusty."

"Rus- oh shit. Lan Wangji, I hope you've had your tetanus shot," Wei Wuxian scolded, but he had to admit it was kind of badass of Lan Wangji to pry open a metal cage with his bare hands to rescue a little bunny. He wouldn't have thought that Lan Wangji was the type to care, given his constant deadpan expression and reputation for being above such mundane things.

"Had to get it out," Lan Wangji said firmly.

"Yeah, I agree," Wei Wuxian conceded, then impulsively added, "You can come over to play with the rabbit as long as I'm in my room. And when the rabbit settles down, maybe we can try to shift it to your room."

"People will talk," Lan Wangji said. 

"Too late to worry about that now, don't you think? Meng Yao is a gossip, he's probably told everyone that we were having sex. If you don't mind, we can just not deny the rumours, and that'll give you an excuse to come over more often," Wei Wuxian said with a shrug.

"Nobody is going to believe that we're dating," Lan Wangji said. Wei Wuxian tried not to bristle at his quick dismissal.

"No, we'll just say that we're hate-fucking," Wei Wuxian said wryly. "Enemies with benefits, if you will."

Lan Wangji's face remained carefully blank, but after some hesitation, he nodded in agreement. "Mn."

"That's settled then. It'll be our little secret," Wei Wuxian said, winking at him.

--

At first, the rabbit would only come out of its hiding place to eat when Wei Wuxian was out, so for the next few days, Lan Wangji would just come and sit in Wei Wuxian's room so the rabbit could get used to them. Wei Wuxian didn't have money to split the bill for the rabbit's necessities, but he had to take care of cleaning up the rabbit's pee and poop all over his room, so he figured they were even. With the amount of coursework they both had on their plates, and both of them taking a lot of the same classes, it made sense to study together since they were going to be in Wei Wuxian's room anyway. Wei Wuxian had to admit, it wasn't a bad arrangement. He normally studied better alone but Lan Wangji was very quiet and unobtrusive, and if either of them wanted to discuss a point in the textbooks, as the two top students in their year, their discussions were always productive. 

Without really realising it, they'd fallen into a routine. Wei Wuxian usually had his meals with his siblings and friends - Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, Nie Huaisang, Wen Qing, and Wen Ning - and he assumed Lan Wangji had other friends as well as an older brother who was doing his doctorate or something. But since there were a slew of quizzes to study for, it made more sense to stay in for dinner at the dorms to maximise studying time and not break the momentum, and since they were studying together it made sense to have dinner together. 

They were having their usual dinner break from studying one night, wolfing down noodles (extra spicy for Wei Wuxian, vegetarian for Lan Wangji), when Wei Wuxian saw a little shadow moving closer to them under the bed. 

"Shhh. Don't turn around," Wei Wuxian said in a low voice. 

Lan Wangji nodded and gently put his takeout box down. After a while, a curious little nose came sniffing around the boxes.

"Oh no, that's not for you," Wei Wuxian said, scooping the rabbit up and holding it close to his chest when it looked like it might try to nibble on a sad sliver of carrot that was stuck to one of the covers.

The rabbit startled but didn't try to escape. Wei Wuxian was careful to grasp its legs gently but firmly so that it wouldn't try to kick him, stroking its back and whispering soothingly. He could feel its little heart racing frantically against his palm, but it seemed ok with sitting in his arms. It was only then that Lan Wangji dared to tentatively pat it on its head.

"Congratulations, Lan-er-gongzi, it's a boy," Wei Wuxian commented, now that they'd had a chance to look at the rabbit properly.

"Hmm? Oh. Then congratulations to you, too," Lan Wangji said.

Wei Wuxian grinned at him. "Oh, are we sharing custody? What are we naming him? And don't tell me you want to name him Rabbit."

Lan Wangji remained helplessly silent, so Wei Wuxian picked up one of the takeout boxes, which bore the name of the place they always ordered from - Yuan's Noodles.

"How about A-Yuan?" Wei Wuxian suggested.

Lan Wangji just nodded and almost looked like he was going to smile.

They cleared up the trash and played with the rabbit for a while, taking turns cradling it until it started to tire of being carried, but allowed them to settle it inside a small nest of blankets in a cardboard box.

And since Lan Wangji seemed to have forgotten about trying to move the rabbit back to his room, Wei Wuxian didn't mention it either. 

--

"Hey, did you know that there's been a rumour that you're secretly dating Lan Wangji?" Nie Huaisang asked Wei Wuxian at lunch one day. 

"Bullshit," Jiang Cheng snorted before Wei Wuxian could answer. "As if the high-and-mighty Lan Wangji would ever associate with riff-raff like us."

"Excuse me. If I want to turn up the charm, even Lan Wangji can't resist me," Wei Wuxian said. 

"So you are dating him?" Nie Huaisang asked, eyes gleaming at the prospect of some juicy gossip. 

"I wouldn't go so far as to call it dating," Wei Wuxian said airily. "It's just about the sex, you know."

"Now that's definitely bullshit," Wen Qing said with a laugh. "Wei Wuxian, you can't fool us, you're not that kind of guy. You're getting as much action as the rest of us."

"Not true. At least I've kissed someone," Wei Wuxian protested. 

"That's true. In fact, you kissed Lan Wangji," Wen Ning observed. "Although I thought that was an accident..."

"There you go. He had a taste and couldn't help wanting more," Wei Wuxian quipped, trying to laugh off his embarrassment. 

It had been an accident. They'd been playing ice-breaker games in the courtyard during orientation week, some of them admittedly a bit childish, and one of the games had been Blind Man's Buff. It had been Wei Wuxian's turn to be "It" and because he'd been blindfolded, he'd accidentally caught Lan Wangji when he was just passing by. That wouldn't have been so bad if Wei Wuxian hadn't tripped and pulled Lan Wangji down with him, and somehow he'd landed on Lan Wangji with his lips on Lan Wangji's. Lan Wangji had been understandably furious, but hey, that had been Wei Wuxian's first kiss. 

Wei Wuxian had been a bit worried that Lan Wangji would somehow get him expelled or get his scholarship revoked since his uncle was the Dean of the university, but thankfully Lan Wangji hadn't stooped to that level. Still, for months there'd been that one photo of their split-second kiss floating around the campus despite Lan Qiren's best efforts to stop it, and maybe Lan Wangji thought Wei Wuxian had done that on purpose, as if people would resort to doing anything to steal a kiss from a gorgeous, intelligent guy who also happened to be an amazing violinist and the valiant protector of small furry creatures-

Ok, maybe it wasn't that unbelievable after all. 

After lunch, when they were all going off to their own classes, his elder sister Jiang Yanli put a hand on his arm and pulled him aside. "Xianxian, be careful," she told him worriedly. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Jie, what are you thinking? I promise he isn't doing anything to me that I don't want him to," Wei Wuxian joked. 

"I don't mean that. I'm talking about your heart," Jiang Yanli said gently. 

They didn't live in the same house anymore, not after her mother had kicked him out when he turned eighteen, but some things never changed. His sister had always been the best at reading him, and Wei Wuxian couldn't lie to her. "I think it might be a bit too late for that," he admitted with a sad smile. 

"What is really going on between the two of you?" she asked him, linking arms with him as they walked to class together.

Wei Wuxian sighed. "We're co-parenting a rabbit that he found."

"Oh! That's cute," Jiang Yanli said. "So the rumours of you two dating was just a way to distract others from the fact that you're hiding the rabbit in your room."

"Yeah. But we've been spending so much time together..."

His sister smiled at him, shaking her head fondly. "You've always liked him, even when you said you didn't." 

"You don't forget your first kiss so easily," Wei Wuxian said lightly.

"Then ask him out," Jiang Yanli suggested.

"You say that like it's so easy," Wei Wuxian mumbled. "Just because I'm interested, doesn't mean that he is. I think he still hates me for accidentally kissing him."

"Xianxian, you're such a silly boy," Jiang Yanli said with a laugh. "Nobody co-parents a rabbit with someone they hate, and nobody lets rumours like that spread without challenge if they really don't want to be associated with them."

"Do you really think so?" Wei Wuxian asked, hope blossoming. 

"Take a good look at the way he behaves around you, and consider this - if someone behaved like this around someone else, would you think they were interested in them?" 

Wei Wuxian shrugged. He hadn't really thought too much about it. They'd exchanged numbers so that they always knew where to find each other in case of A-Yuan-related emergencies, they both knew each other's coffee and takeout orders without having to ask, but Wei Wuxian reasoned that it was just because it had been more convenient to take turns going out to get food, nothing more.

--

Still, his sister's words had lit a spark of hope, and Wei Wuxian found it a lot harder to concentrate on his classes, especially since he didn't happen to have any common classes with Lan Wangji that day. By the time he got back to the dorms, he felt like he had swallowed a dozen butterflies and he was sure Lan Wangji would be able to tell that something was up with him. But when he got to his door, already halfway to sending Lan Wangji a message to tell him he was back, he realised with a start that the door wasn't properly closed.

Had he left it open this morning? Wei Wuxian pushed the door open, frantic now at the thought that perhaps A-Yuan had escaped, and immediately started looking in all of the rabbit's usual hiding spots - under the bed, under his study desk, in his laundry bag.

"A-Yuan!" he called out softly. "Where are you?"

"Looking for something?" 

Wei Wuxian turned, scowling at Meng Yao's smug face. "What did you do to my rabbit?"

"Thank you for owning up to your crime so readily," Meng Yao said, smiling sweetly. "You know the rules. No pets allowed in the dormitories. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. You have half an hour to clear out of your room."

"What did you do to my rabbit?" Wei Wuxian repeated in a growl.

"Nothing. The maintenance crew were just doing a routine check of the wiring, and when I opened the door to let them into your room, I spotted the rabbit's things. Your pet ran out of the room when I tried to move the bed," Meng Yao replied. "Honestly, I'm horrified that you can live like this, with rabbit pee all over the floor - although I suppose I shouldn't expect any better from someone like you."

It was within the rights of the Resident Assistant to enter any room without permission for fixing the wiring and things like that, but he'd eat his own socks if it hadn't just been an excuse Meng Yao had dreamt up to snoop around. Wei Wuxian refused to give Meng Yao the satisfaction of arguing with him or trying to defend himself. He packed his meagre belongings - mostly textbooks - in a suitcase and got out of the room before the half-hour was up. Lan Wangji hadn't replied to any of his messages, and he didn't want to implicate him in this mess by going to his room, so Wei Wuxian just hauled his suitcase downstairs and sat down next to it with a sigh. He didn't have any clue where to even begin looking for a skittish rabbit, and he had nowhere to go. He wasn't welcome at the Jiangs anymore, and the Wen siblings lived with their grandma and a dozen other people in an already cramped apartment quite a distance from the campus. He supposed he could give Nie Huaisang a call and crash at his place for now; it wasn't a permanent solution, but it'd give Wei Wuxian some time to find an apartment and a job to pay for that apartment. But first, he had to try to find A-Yuan.

He ran a hand across his face, forced himself to get back on his feet, and started walking, dragging the suitcase behind him. The dormitory building was right next to a road which thankfully wasn't very busy, and there was a park across the road where Lan Wangji had found the rabbit. He wasn't sure how smart rabbits were, but perhaps it had crossed the road and gone back to the park.

Wei Wuxian had only taken a few dozen steps when a white car came up beside him and stopped.

"Hey!" Wei Wuxian brightened up when he saw that it was Lan Wangji, then he remembered that he'd lost their fur-kid. "Um, I've got some bad news..."

"I know. A-Yuan is with me," Lan Wangji replied. 

"Oh, thank goodness," Wei Wuxian said in relief. "OK, then I'm just going to give Huaisang a call and see if he'll let me stay for a couple of days. I know A-Yuan will be fine with you."

Lan Wangji frowned, and Wei Wuxian had a sudden distinct feeling that he had been about to say something else, but in the end Lan Wangji just nodded, rolled the car window down, and drove off.

"Huh? You're just leaving me here like this?" Wei Wuxian blurted out, but Lan Wangji was long gone. "I guess Jie was wrong - you really do still hate me," he muttered to himself.

Overhead, thunder rumbled, and Wei Wuxian sighed in resignation. 

Crashing with Nie Huaisang turned out to be quite fun - for the first six hours. 

Wei Wuxian had been lucky enough to catch Nie Huaisang just as his chauffeured car was leaving the campus, so his friend had kindly doubled back to pick him up before all his books were ruined by the rain. Nie Huaisang had been sympathetic about his predicament and assured him that it was no trouble at all and he could stay in one of the guest rooms in the Nie residence for as long as he liked. 

Nie Huaisang's parents were away on business most of the time, so he and his older brother Nie Mingjue lived in a huge house, waited on by a whole bevvy of housekeepers, a personal chef, and a chauffeur for each brother. It was a distance away from the campus, but the drive took them through a densely forested area, and with no other cars on the road, the chauffeur had stepped on the pedal and taken them to the Nie mansion in record time. The size of the building made it ridiculously intimidating, and Nie Huaisang's claim that he had gotten lost once or twice himself did nothing to assure Wei Wuxian. Still, he figured that as long as he stuck close to his friend he would be fine. 

They swung by the kitchen first to put in their dinner orders, then Nie Huaisang had given him a brief tour of the places he was familiar with and settled Wei Wuxian in the empty bedroom next to his. Wei Wuxian had a couple of quizzes to study for, but Nie Huaisang had cajoled him into playing a few rounds of Mario Kart with him and before they knew it, it was time for dinner. 

They were halfway through their meal when Nie Mingjue returned. Wei Wuxian didn't know much about him other than that he was a professional rugby player and that the two brothers were pretty close. It appeared that Nie Huaisang had mentioned him to his brother, though. 

"So you're Wei Wuxian! A very promising young man from what I've heard," he said in a loud booming voice, and shook Wei Wuxian's hand with such a firm grip that Wei Wuxian couldn't feel his hand for a while after that. "Make yourself at home, any friend of Huaisang's is always welcome."

"Thanks," Wei Wuxian wheezed when Nie Mingjue gave him a "friendly" pat on the back that almost sent him flying face-first into his noodles. 

By the time Wei Wuxian was done studying for his quizzes, it was almost midnight. It'd been a horrible day and he hadn't had the energy to unpack his bags, but at least he knew that A-Yuan was safe with Lan Wangji. He had been tempted to message Lan Wangji to ask how their little rabbit was doing after the trauma of being chased out by Meng Yao, but he didn't want to disturb him. Besides, he'd turned to ask Lan Wangji something several times while he was studying, out of pure habit, and he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with how empty it had made him feel to be reminded that Lan Wangji didn't care about him and had just left him in the rain. 

Fortunately, since he was the type of person who could sleep anywhere, Wei Wuxian had no problems falling asleep despite the unfamiliar surroundings. He was already deep in a dream about cuddling blue rabbits when a roar startled him awake. 

"What the hell was that?" he mumbled. Heavy footsteps thundered past his door, accompanied by another unintelligible shout. 

Wei Wuxian crept out of bed and grabbed his heaviest textbook before opening his door by a crack. The hallway outside his room was completely dark; he looked left, towards the direction the footsteps had been heading, squinting to see if anything was moving in the darkness, but even though he didn't see anything he could hear running footsteps - now coming from the floor above. Wei Wuxian gulped. Was the Nie mansion... haunted? 

He hesitated, wondering if he should try to knock on Nie Huaisang's door or just bar himself in his own room, but everything had gone quiet. Wei Wuxian stuck his head out of his room a bit more - and nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned to his right and saw Nie Mingjue standing a few feet away with his eyes closed. 

"Uh...? Are you looking for Huaisang?" Wei Wuxian asked him uncertainly.

Nie Mingjue was dressed in silk pyjamas and was barefoot, but was inexplicably holding a broom. Wei Wuxian figured that maybe he was sleepwalking but he had no idea which room was his and he had a vague impression that it was dangerous to wake someone who was sleepwalking.

"I'm going to wake Huaisang, wait here," Wei Wuxian told him.

But he'd only taken one step out of the room when Nie Mingjue suddenly hoisted the broom above his head with both hands and charged forward blindly while yelling an incoherent battle cry at the top of his voice. Wei Wuxian yelped and hurriedly retreated into his room, slamming the door shut. He pushed his luggage full of books to the door and waited, but thankfully it seemed like Nie Mingjue wasn't going to try to get into any of the rooms in his state - just spend the rest of the night charging up and down the hallways and shouting. Wei Wuxian curled on the bed, covered his head with a pillow, and tried to go back to sleep. 

Wei Wuxian was so tired, he missed his alarm the next morning. Pulling on the first items of clothing he'd managed to get his hands on and tripping over his luggage as he ran out of his room, he made straight for Nie Huaisang's door and banged frantically on it. 

"Huaisang, we gotta go!" he called out. 

After an eternity, Nie Huaisang popped his head out, a sleep mask pulled up on his head and white smears of night cream still on his face. "Wha...?"

"We're late for school! Don't you have a morning lecture as well?"

Nie Huaisang frowned, groggily trying to make sense of Wei Wuxian's panic. "Oh, I'm not going to school today." 

Wei Wuxian blinked. "What? Why? Are you sick?"

"No, I need more sleep," Nie Huaisang replied with a yawn. 

"Dude, your brother kept me up all night as well with his yelling, we can just get coffee on the way," Wei Wuxian said.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, my brother does that every night. Wear earplugs tonight," Nie Huaisang advised him, and shut the door in his face.

"What the f- Huaisang!"

But Nie Huaisang didn't come back to the door and after a while Wei Wuxian gave up in favour of finding a way to get to school on his own. He didn't think it'd be polite to ask the chauffeurs employed by the Nie family to give him a lift, and he didn't exactly have the spare cash to call a cab to take him to school, so he ended up jogging all the way out through the forested private roads until he finally found a bus stop. 

He was so late that he ended up missing the quiz that had been in his first lecture of the day and spent the rest of the morning grumpy and sleepy from the lack of sleep and his rumbling stomach. He could feel Lan Wangji watching him from his usual corner of the lecture hall, but when Wei Wuxian gave him a little wave, Lan Wangji just turned away as if he hadn't seen him, and it made Wei Wuxian's mood drop even further. He made a beeline for the canteen during his lunch break and wolfed down half of his sandwich before his siblings and friends could join him at their usual table.

"Why didn't you tell us that you'd been kicked out of the dormitories? I had to hear about it from Mianmian," Wen Qing scolded. 

"Didn't want you guys to worry. I'm staying with Huaisang," Wei Wuxian mumbled around his mouthful of food. 

"Then where is Huaisang?" Wen Ning asked. 

Wei Wuxian sighed. "I don't want to talk about it. But I don't think staying with Huaisang is working out."

"I can tell," Jiang Cheng said snidely, eyeing his outfit with a critical eye - as if Wei Wuxian would normally wear a shirt that had shrunk in the wash so it was one size too small and forget his belt so that his jeans were falling off his hips. 

"A-Xian, why don't you come home with us until you've found a more permanent place? Mom and Dad are away on business and won't be home for a few days," Jiang Yanli suggested. 

"Could I?" Wei Wuxian asked, brightening up. "Can I still sleep in my old room?" 

"Mom turned it into a storage room," his sister replied apologetically. 

"Oh. That's fine, it's no problem. I can sleep in A-Cheng's room," Wei Wuxian said quickly.

"On the floor. And if you snore I'll kick you," Jiang Cheng warned him.

"Yeah, yeah," Wei Wuxian muttered. "Now I just need to find a way to get to Huaisang's house later to get my stuff." 

"God, you're so troublesome. I'll be at the parking lot in front of the law building at four to pick you up, and if you're late I'll leave without you," Jiang Cheng grumbled. 

"Best brother ever," Wei Wuxian declared cheerfully, slinging an arm around Jiang Cheng's shoulders. 

"Spare me the bullshit," Jiang Cheng mumbled, pushing him away and trying not to smile.

As the conversation at the table moved on to other topics, Jiang Yanli leaned a little closer to Wei Wuxian so that she could whisper in his ear. "Did you know that Lan Wangji was sitting behind us this whole time?"

"What?" Wei Wuxian whipped his head around to look, but the table behind him was already vacant.

--

Wei Wuxian spent a blissful three days in the Jiang family home with his siblings, just like old times - bickering with Jiang Cheng, being pampered by his sister, and settling back into a space that had been his home for a decade. The owners of the little corner shop nearby knew him by name and most of the neighbourhood remained unchanged. Even the inside of their house was mostly the same except that the door to his old bedroom was now locked to him (and a pull-out sofa bed had mysteriously appeared in Jiang Cheng's room that Jiang Cheng insisted he'd bought because he wanted to watch movies comfortably in his room). He was supposed to be looking for a new apartment, but that just reminded him that he had to leave, so he kept putting it off and the days just flew past. Before he knew it, Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu were due to be home the next day, and he was back at square one. 

The day before he had to move out of the Jiang family house again, Wei Wuxian went to the library since he was waiting for his siblings to finish their classes but he couldn't concentrate on his studies. He looked up from doodling in the corner of his textbook and was pleasantly surprised when he spotted Lan Wangji just a few tables away. They still saw each other during lectures every day but hadn't spoken since the day Wei Wuxian had been kicked out of the dormitories, and the truth was, Wei Wuxian had missed the tentative friendship he had thought was forming between them - and A-Yuan as well, of course. Gathering all his things in his arms, Wei Wuxian got up and shifted to Lan Wangji's table. Lan Wangji didn't acknowledge Wei Wuxian's presence but he didn't move away or chase Wei Wuxian away either.

"Hey. Um, how is A-Yuan? Is he settling in ok? Is he eating well?" Wei Wuxian asked Lan Wangji in a low voice.

"He's fine."

"Do you have any photos of him? I mean, I know I don't really have a right to ask since he's technically your rabbit because you found him, but I miss him," Wei Wuxian said.

Lan Wangji didn't even look up. "I don't have photos."

"Oh. That's ok then. Sorry to bother you," Wei Wuxian said, forcing a smile and starting to pack up his things to move away since he clearly wasn't welcome.

"Our rabbit," Lan Wangji suddenly said. "He's yours too."

Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Wangji in surprise. He sat back down. "I'm sorry I haven't been doing my share of the parenting lately. I'd visit him, but Meng Yao might call campus security on me if I tried to go to the dorms."

"I'm not staying in the dormitory anymore. I moved back home," Lan Wangji replied. 

"That's probably a good idea, in case Meng Yao suspects you and checks your room," Wei Wuxian agreed. "Maybe we can take turns looking after him if I get a place of my own. But to be honest with you, I don't even know where to start sorting out my living arrangements, and I can't stay with the Jiangs anymore."

Lan Wangji didn't seem surprised. Wei Wuxian wondered if that meant that he'd been eavesdropping that day. 

"I suppose I could go back to crashing with Huaisang, except his brother probably thinks I'm very rude for leaving so abruptly. Or maybe I can ask Wen Qing and Wen Ning if I can live with them, even though their apartment is already very crowded," Wei Wuxian mused. 

Lan Wangji didn't respond, but he'd never really been much for words. 

"Sorry, I'm sure you don't care about that," Wei Wuxian said. Just then, the theme song from Spongebob Squarepants began to blare out of Wei Wuxian's phone at full volume and everyone in the library turned their heads to glare at him. 

"That's Jiang Cheng. I've gotta go," Wei Wuxian told him, grabbing his things. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

That evening, Wei Wuxian was on tenterhooks waiting for a response from the Wen siblings and made a mad dive for his phone once it sounded, only to find that it was a message from Lan Wangji - with a photo of their little rabbit. 

--

There wasn't any more room in the apartment that the Wen siblings shared with their grandparents, fourth uncle and his wife, and a handful of cousins. Wen Ning had offered to give up his spot on the couch but Wei Wuxian wouldn't let him. In the end, they suggested that Wei Wuxian could sleep in the backroom of the small grocery shop owned by the Wen family, which was just downstairs from their apartment, and in return Wei Wuxian offered to help out in the shop after school and during the weekends. 

The backroom barely more than a closet, with no windows, and it was stuffy and dusty. It was so narrow Wei Wuxian had to sleep curled up, so he always woke up feeling stiff and itchy. Still, it was free lodging and Wei Wuxian was in no position to turn his nose up at that, and besides the Wen family was kind and welcoming. Every day after dinner, Wei Wuxian would help Wen Ning stock the shelves and take inventory during the short breaks they took from studying while Wen Qing manned the cash register, and the three of them would close the shop at two in the morning. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best arrangement he'd had so far. 

By a stroke of pure luck, Lan Wangji turned out to be a regular customer at the shop, so Wei Wuxian got to see him a lot more often as well. Lan Wangji would come in at 11pm, regular as clockwork, but sometimes he bought strange items that didn't strike Wei Wuxian as things one would need urgently enough to drive down so late at night, such as a jar of radish pickles or a bottle of toilet cleaner. Not that Lan Wangji actually talked to him when he came to the shop - Wei Wuxian always knew when Lan Wangji had arrived because Wen Qing would let out a deep sigh when he walked in, then Lan Wangji would walk around a bit and grab something off a shelf near to Wei Wuxian, pay, and leave. 

After about a week of this, Wei Wuxian heard Wen Qing leave her seat at the cash register with an exasperated huff when the door opened at eleven. Wei Wuxian exchanged a puzzled look with Wen Ning as they heard Wen Qing whispering something fiercely to Lan Wangji, and after a while both of them appeared around the corner.

"Lan Wangji has something very important to ask you," Wen Qing said, nudging Lan Wangji forward.

"Me?" Wei Wuxian asked, putting down the boxes of cereal he was shelving and dusting his hands as he stood up. 

"I was just telling him that we were planning to put in another shelf in the backroom so you'll have no place to sleep and I didn't know how to break the news to you," Wen Qing said. "Besides, you sleeping there is a fire hazard. We could get into trouble."

"But we promised Xian-ge that he could stay with us for as long he wanted," Wen Ning said. "How about I give him the couch, and I-"

Wen Qing glared at him and he shut up. 

"Don't worry, I understand. Of course I can find somewhere else to go," Wei Wuxian said bracingly. 

"And that's where Lan Wangji comes in!" Wen Qing said brightly. 

Wei Wuxian turned to look at Lan Wangji in confusion. 

"Come home with me," Lan Wangji said, the colour high on his cheeks but his expression determined. 

Wei Wuxian thought he felt his heart skip a beat. "What?"

"You can come and stay with me," Lan Wangji repeated. 

"Oh. Um, I don't want to be any trouble..." Wei Wuxian started to protest, but Lan Wangji finally looked him in the eye and Wei Wuxian suddenly found it a lot harder to find arguments against the idea. He cleared his throat, trying to shake off the mood of that strange moment between them. "I suppose it's your fault that I got kicked out anyway, you should bear some responsibility for my situation," Wei Wuxian said with a wink, taking refuge in being flippant. 

"So it's settled! Tomorrow he'll drop by after school to help you collect your things," Wen Qing said brusquely, and marched away muttering something about boys being idiots under her breath. 

The car ride to the Lan residence was nerve-wracking at first. It seemed rude to turn on the radio to fill the silence since it wasn't his car, and so Wei Wuxian talked. He still wasn't completely sure why Lan Wangji had volunteered to host him but didn't know how to broach the subject, so he talked about everything else that came to mind - Nie Mingjue's sleepwalking, his sister cooking soup for him, a funny show he'd watched with the Wen siblings last night. Lan Wangji didn't seem to mind that he spent the entire trip talking his ear off. Instead, even though he mostly responded at the right places with an "Mn" to show that he was listening, gradually his grip on the steering wheel loosened and his shoulders relaxed, and Wei Wuxian felt his anxiety ebb as they slipped back into the easy rhythm of their interactions back when they'd been studying together in the Wei Wuxian's dorm room. Still, Wei Wuxian couldn't help noticing that they were driving across town to get from the Wens' shop to the Lan residence. 

"You know, I'd assumed you lived near the Wens for you to keep going to their shop. Seems rather inconvenient for you to go there when you need pickles in the middle of the night," Wei Wuxian commented idly. 

Lan Wangji didn't reply. Wei Wuxian thought he had turned a bit pink, but it was probably just a trick of the light.

The Lan residence was also pretty isolated but a lot less intimidating than the Nie mansion - a comfortable single-storey house with a large garden at the back. There were already two cars parked in the garage, and Wei Wuxian didn't think too much about it until Lan Wangji brought him through the living room and he saw two people in there. He didn't recognise one of them, but he definitely recognised Lan Qiren, the dean of the university, who was reading some sort of academic journal. 

He was going to be living in the same house as Lan Qiren. He had not thought this through. 

Wei Wuxian backed away, prepared to make a run for it, but their entrance had already been noticed. Lan Qiren frowned at him over the rim of his glasses, probably trying to figure out where he had seen him, but the other guy actually smiled at him as he stepped forward. 

"I'm Xichen, Wangji's brother. You must be Wei Wuxian. I've heard so much about you," he said, extending a hand for Wei Wuxian to shake. 

"From him? If he could say one word he wouldn't say three, what would he have said about me?" Wei Wuxian said with a nervous laugh, jerking his thumb at Lan Wangji.

Lan Xichen glanced at his brother, then explained, "I'm friends with Nie Mingjue. He is an old classmate of mine, and he mentioned you when I last saw him." 

"What's going on? Who is this?" Lan Qiren demanded from behind them.

"Wangji's friend is staying with us for a while," Lan Xichen explained on Lan Wangji's behalf.

"Doesn't he have parents?" Lan Qiren barked.

"Yeah, actually, I don't. I'm an orphan and I got kicked out by my foster parents when I turned 18," Wei Wuxian answered brightly. Awkward silence descended on the room.

"Alright, fine. As long as it's only temporary," Lan Qiren muttered, and went back to his reading.

Wei Wuxian winked at Lan Wangji, and for a moment there he thought Lan Wangji almost smiled.

Wei Wuxian had been expecting Lan Wangji to lead him to the guest room. He hadn't expected to walk into a room that was clearly already occupied by Lan Wangji. Although it was painfully neat, there was a music stand and a violin case in the corner, a shelf full of books arranged according to height, one king-sized bed with the sheets straightened with military precision, A-Yuan's food and water next to what looked like a dog bed, and a cat litter tray in another corner. There were no rabbits, dogs, or cats in sight, but Wei Wuxian thought he saw heard something moving under the desk.

"You have a cat?" Wei Wuxian asked Lan Wangji, indicating the litter tray. 

"It's A-Yuan's."

"You toilet trained our rabbit? I didn't even know it was possible," Wei Wuxian said, impressed. "You really are amazing." 

Lan Wangji shook his head modestly and took refuge in showing Wei Wuxian where he could put his things. He'd cleared out some shelf-space for him and half the wardrobe - as if Wei Wuxian wasn't just going to be here for a couple of days, living out of his luggage, and instead Lan Wangji expected him to slot all his ratty black band t-shirts and ripped jeans amongst Lan Wangji's almost identical blue-grey slacks and starched white button-ups and make himself at home. It made Wei Wuxian feel all fuzzy inside but he knew it was too good to be true. Still, he didn't want to hurt Lan Wangji's feelings since the other boy had obviously made an effort to be welcoming, so he dutifully started moving his things into the wardrobe since there wasn't much of it anyway and it wouldn't take too long to pack it all back.

"All done!" Wei Wuxian said, straightening up. He turned around to find that Lan Wangji had managed to coax the rabbit out of its hiding place, and was holding it out to him.

"A-Yuan! Oh, I've missed you. Have you missed me?" Wei Wuxian cooed, taking over the rabbit. To his delight, the rabbit seemed to recognise him and stopped struggling almost immediately, snuggling into his arms instead.

After playing with the rabbit for a while, Wei Wuxian endured an extremely awkward family dinner with the Lans, and was only too glad to escape to the safety of Lan Wangji's room, studying together while A-Yuan gambolled between them until it was time for bed. It was only after he came out of the ensuite bathroom that he realised that there was a tiny little problem - there was only one bed. 

"I'll sleep on the floor," he said quickly. "If you can spare me a pillow and a blanket..."

"No, I'll sleep on the floor."

"This is your room, why should you sleep on the floor?" 

"You're my guest, you take the bed," Lan Wangji said, already putting a pillow down in a corner. 

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm taking the floor," Wei Wuxian insisted, also grabbing a pillow. 

They both lay down on the floor on opposite sides of the room. Their rabbit turned its head and watched them with curious eyes, nose twitching. Wei Wuxian was sure that Lan Wangji would eventually give up and move back to the bed, so he closed his eyes, crossed his arms resolutely, and went to sleep. 

--

Wei Wuxian woke up stiff and sore the next morning to A-Yuan sitting on his pillow and snuffling in his ear. He sat up with a groan trying to stretch out the kink in his back and looked around. The sun had just risen, light filtering in through the gauzy pale blue curtains. Lan Wangji wasn't in the room, but his pillow was still on the floor and his violin case was open and empty.

He slipped out, making sure the door was shut properly so that the rabbit was contained inside the safety of the room. There was a faint sound of music coming from somewhere outside the house, but as he walked down the hallway in search of the source of music the first person he bumped into was Lan Xichen, who looked like he had just returned from his morning run because apparently all the Lans woke up at the crack of dawn.

"You don't look like you slept well. Is everything ok?" he asked.

"Yes, it's great, everything is great. I'm probably just not used to the new place," Wei Wuxian lied, trying to look like his back wasn't killing him.

"If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm glad that Wangji has found such a good friend in you," he said. 

Good friend. Wei Wuxian didn't know how to feel about that. The Lan brothers seemed pretty close, so if Lan Wangji had told his brother that he saw Wei Wuxian as a good friend, that had to be true, right? Lan Wangji was a bit of an odd duck, always keeping to himself, and sometimes he confused Wei Wuxian by blowing hot and cold. That Lan Wangji considered him a good friend was already a huge thing, and Wei Wuxian would take it even if it was all he ever got.

Of all of that, Wei Wuxian only said, "I'm happy to call him a friend, too."

Lan Xichen smiled; it was a smile that made Wei Wuxian vaguely uncomfortable, like Lan Xichen saw an amusing joke in all of this that he wasn't sharing. "If you're looking for Wangji, he's in the garden."

Wei Wuxian thanked him and made his way to the back of the house. He opened the back door just a little, and immediately spotted Lan Wangji looking completely unreal standing barefoot in a patch of sun in his white t-shirt and loose light grey sleep pants. The Lans were far enough from their nearest neighbours that they probably couldn't hear Lan Wangji playing the violin so early in the morning - but why would anyone complain about being woken up by such beautiful music? 

Lan Wangji's eyes were closed as he drew his bow over the strings of his violin, his skill with the instrument making it sound almost like a human voice singing. His face was blank of any expression, but the music he was making was anything but. Wei Wuxian didn't recognise the song, but it started out sounding wistful and a little sad, then turned hopeful, before shifting back to melancholy. He was so enraptured, when the song ended he was still hiding behind the door, and it was only when Lan Wangji opened his eyes that Wei Wuxian startled and decided that he really didn't want Lan Wangji to discover him here listening to something that had felt like a very private performance.

He closed the door as quietly as he could and hurried back to the room, and when A-Yuan bounded over to the door to greet him, Wei Wuxian was only too glad to have the comfort of holding its fluffy warm body close to his chest. Lan Wangji thought of him as a friend. If Wei Wuxian made it weird by trying to turn this into something it wasn't, he could ruin everything between them and he simply couldn't risk it. 

"A-Yuan, I'm in so much trouble," he murmured to the rabbit, holding it a little closer. 

--

Wei Wuxian congratulated himself for succeeding in acting normal all through breakfast, the car ride to school, and the morning's lectures, which he shared with Lan Wangji. He'd thought that he'd be able to make it through lunch without anyone noticing that something was wrong, but Wen Qing narrowed her eyes at him once she saw him. 

"Why are you sitting funny?" she demanded. 

"It's not Lan Wangji's fault. I asked for it," Wei Wuxian said quickly. 

Nie Huaisang let out a low whistle. "Wow, you guys are really going at it, huh?"

"Wait, no, that's not what I meant! It wasn't a sex thing, I slept on the floor because I didn't want to make things weird by sleeping in the same bed as him," Wei Wuxian tried to explain above the sound of his friends' laughter.

"Didn't you claim that you two were sleeping together? Why would you be shy about sharing a bed with him now?" Wen Qing pointed out wryly.

"That- I... Oh, alright, I was lying," Wei Wuxian confessed with a sigh. 

"Xian-ge, we already knew that," Nie Huaisang said, still laughing. "Don't you remember, when you accidentally kissed Lan Wangji, for weeks after that, every time someone even glanced in your direction you would yell that it was just an accident and you didn't mean to kiss him. So innocent."

"Did I really do that? I don't remember," Wei Wuxian said, scratching his head.

"Yes, you did. If I were Lan Wangji, I'd have been pretty insulted. It was like you found it embarrassing to let people think that you might actually want to kiss him voluntarily," Wen Qing snorted. 

"What nonsense, why would anyone not want to kiss the most beautiful guy in this school?" Wei Wuxian scoffed. "Anyway, if all of you are done laughing at me, can someone spot me some cash? I think I ought to invest in a sleeping bag." 

"Just buy a three-dollar box of earplugs and move back with Huaisang," Jiang Cheng said impatiently. 

Logically, that was the best choice to make. Even if it was inconvenient getting to school, he had a proper bed and free food if he stayed with the Nies, but it was the last thing his heart wanted. Unfortunately, sleeping on the floor of Lan Wangji's room wasn't a thing his poor back wanted either. 

"I can't face Huaisang's brother after I ran out like that. Never mind, I'll think of something," Wei Wuxian muttered. 

That night, as they were getting ready for bed, before Lan Wangji could put his pillow on the floor, Wei Wuxian quickly cleared his throat. 

"I'll take the bed if you'll sleep on the bed as well. After all, it's such a big bed. We can both fit without even touching," Wei Wuxian said, fiddling with his pillow and not quite able to meet Lan Wangji's eyes.

Lan Wangji didn't respond for such a long time that Wei Wuxian was going to just laugh it off as a joke, but eventually he nodded in agreement and put his pillow back. They both lay on the bed with a few inches of space between them, staring up at the ceiling, and even though his aching back was thanking him, Wei Wuxian began to think maybe this was a bad idea - Lan Wangji was lying so rigidly with his hands at his side that he could have been a statue, and he didn't even sound like he was breathing. 

He should just move back to the floor, but if he did that now, Lan Wangji would probably move to the floor as well. Wei Wuxian closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, letting his breathing even out and relaxing into the thick mattress. Lan Wangji's bed was really comfortable, and after almost two weeks of sleeping in odd places, Wei Wuxian was actually really tired.

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep for real. 

--

For the second morning in a row, Wei Wuxian woke up to soft breathing in his ear. His arm and leg were resting on something nice and warm, and he started to snuggle closer before he remembered where he was and who he was probably hugging. His eyes flew open in shock and he let go of Lan Wangji immediately - the other boy was already awake, and had just been lying there, stiff as a board and staring at the ceiling, already so red in the face that the tips of his ears were pink.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"I know you didn't," Lan Wangji said quietly, already getting out of bed, his back turned towards Wei Wuxian so he couldn't see his face.

The sun had already risen, and it was a lot later than Lan Wangji usually woke up to practice his violin - his uncle certainly seemed displeased when they shuffled into the dining room for breakfast when he and Lan Xichen were already done eating, although Wei Wuxian didn't know what he was getting all upset about since it was the weekend. He'd offered to help the Wens out at their shop on delivery day even though he wasn't lodging with them anymore, to repay them for their kindness of offering to host him in the first place.

"Do you want to come with me to the Wen's today to help out?" he asked Lan Wangji impulsively, then realised how dumb it sounded. Why would someone like Lan Wangji, the future concert violinist who had probably never had to do a single summer job or scrimp on food to save up for school supplies, want to get his hands dirty carrying boxes of dry goods? "If you don't want to, it's not a problem. I just thought I'd ask."

Instead, Lan Wangji surprised him by replying, "I'll come."

They spent the rest of the day carrying heavy boxes and unpacking the contents onto the shelves. Lan Wangji was surprisingly fit, and Wei Wuxian might have walked into the doorframe once from watching him, but considering he'd had his sleeves rolled up almost to his shoulders and his white t-shirt was clinging to his chest and back, Wei Wuxian could hardly be blamed. They had dinner with the Wen family, and Wei Wuxian had been worried that Lan Wangji would find it overwhelming to be surrounded by all the laughing and talking people crowded around the dinner table in the cramped kitchen, but even though Lan Wangji didn't participate in the conversation he mostly seemed a little dazed by their hospitality and warmth, especially when Grandma Wen kept urging him to eat more and apologising for the simple fare.

They went home with full stomachs and full hearts, Wei Wuxian singing along to the radio. Somewhere in the middle of a particularly animated performance of a rock number, Wei Wuxian caught Lan Wangji tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the beat and smiling a little, and it made his heart beat a little faster. 

"I thought you only knew how to appreciate your fancy classical music," Wei Wuxian teased.

"Learning the violin was my uncle's idea," Lan Wangji replied. Wei Wuxian regretted bringing it up - Lan Wangji's faint smile had faded instantly. "My parents died when I was very young, so my uncle raised us on his own. He thought learning music would instil discipline and discourage frivolous pursuits."

"So you don't enjoy playing the violin at all?" 

"I don't regret learning it."

"Hey, people use violins in rock music too. Maybe you can join my band when we jam - Jiang Cheng, Wen Ning, and Wen Qing are in it too."

"I would like that," Lan Wangji said, and Wei Wuxian was heartened to see that his smile was back. 

There were two cars in the garage when they got back, but when they walked into the living room, they were surprised to see that there was another guest. 

"Oh, you're back," Lan Xichen said with a smile, and gestured shyly at the guy sitting next to him. "This is Meng Yao. We've just started dating each other."

Meng Yao got up and extended a hand to them, his smile so sharp it could draw blood. "Oh, I know them from school, Xichen-ge. How lovely to see both of you again. I was surprised to hear that Wuxian was staying here, given the unconventional nature of your relationship."

"Unconventional?" Lan Qiren asked with a frown. "I thought they were just friends."

"Oh? I must have misunderstood," Meng Yao said, his smile growing wider. "Of course Wangji would never do anything to risk the reputation of the Lans."

"Of course we're just friends. Classmates! Which is why we're going to study now," Wei Wuxian said dragging Lan Wangji away. 

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji quickly made their excuses and hid in his room. This certainly was an unpleasant turn of events. A-Yuan hopped up to them, and it just reminded Wei Wuxian that not only was Meng Yao to blame for his current homelessness but that something horrible could have happened to their bunny if Lan Wangji hadn't gotten to it in time when Meng Yao had spooked it from his room.

"Meng Yao is going to eat your brother alive," Wei Wuxian said. 

Lan Wangji nodded in agreement. "He is a bully and a liar."

"What?" Lan Wangji asked with a frown.

"Let's find out what Meng Yao is up to so your brother doesn't get hurt," Wei Wuxian said with determination, already texting his group chat for reinforcements. "Operation Expose Meng Yao is officially a go."

"So - what do we know about Meng Yao?" Wei Wuxian asked. 

They were having a "meeting" in the Wens' small family shop, all seven of them gathered around the cash register while trying not to block the entire entrance of the shop. Every now and then, one of them would accidentally set off the chime at the door, and Wen Qing was starting to grind her teeth. 

"Second-year, business management. He's got a few classes with me and Huaisang and he's always at the top of the class," Jiang Cheng contributed. 

"He was Resident Assistant, so the school administration must have seen something in him to give him that responsibility," Wen Ning pointed out.

"Or he killed off the competition," Wei Wuxian muttered darkly.

"A-Xian, I know you don't like him, but you can't say things like that without proof," Jiang Yanli scolded.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised," Nie Huaisang interjected. "His mom used to work for us, so I've known Meng Yao since I was a kid. The stories I could tell you about him would make your hair curl."

"Really, like what? Spill the tea, bro," Wei Wuxian said, leaning forward. 

Nie Huaisang dropped his voice. "His biological father didn't want to take responsibility for him because his mom was a mistress or something, and I heard that he died under really suspicious circumstances."

"That's ridiculous, do you think this is a TV drama?" Wen Qing scoffed. "Besides, if it was so obvious that he murdered his father, the police would have arrested him."

Nie Huaisang stuck his tongue out at her. "You're no fun. But seriously, you don't get on Meng Yao's wrong side, he'll find a way to get back at you and he never forgets a grudge. My brother hates him."

"But Xichen-ge didn't know Meng Yao before last week, when Meng Yao approached him at a cafe," Wei Wuxian said contemplatively. He wondered if Meng Yao knew that Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen were friends. 

"Maybe your brother will know what Meng Yao is hiding? Could you ask him?" Wen Ning asked Nie Huaisang. 

"Are you kidding? I'm not going to mention Meng Yao in front of my brother, I kind of like having my head attached to the rest of my body," Nie Huaisang snorted. "Especially since he's been in a really bad mood lately, now that Meng Yao is dating Xichen-ge..."

"What does my brother have to do with this?" Lan Wangji asked. He had not spoken a single word since the start of the meeting, and Nie Huaisang jumped in surprise, as if he'd forgotten that Lan Wangji was there. 

"Wait, are you saying that Mingjue-ge has a crush on Xichen-ge?" Wei Wuxian crowed in delight. 

"Shit, don't let this get around, my brother will murder me," Nie Huaisang groaned, and clasped his hands together to bow at Lan Wangji. "Please don't tell your brother, I'm begging you."

"Why is he here anyway?" Jiang Cheng demanded, jerking a thumb in the direction of Lan Wangji. "We're not his friends."

"Hey, watch your mouth around my..." Wei Wuxian floundered, not wanting to say 'friend' because it wasn't enough for what Lan Wangji meant to him, but not being able to say anything else without giving his feelings away. "...roommate," he finished lamely.

Lan Wangji's blank face suddenly looked even blanker, and Wen Qing let out a cough that sounded a lot like "oh my fucking god".

"Anyway, your brother's secret is safe with us. Right?" Wei Wuxian said, looking at Lan Wangji, and he nodded solemnly.

"The problem is that we know too little about Meng Yao, not enough to figure out what he's up to," Jiang Cheng said. "Maybe we could take turns tailing him."

"I've better things to do with my life, thank you," Wen Qing snapped.

"All of us have classes and other responsibilities, there's no way we can follow him around the clock," Jiang Yanli agreed. 

"What we need is a distraction to trick him out of his room so that the rest of us can search through his things for something incriminating," Wei Wuxian decided. 

"Oh dear, that sounds dangerous. We'd get into trouble if we're caught. What kind of distraction?" Jiang Yanli asked worriedly. 

"Well, I haven't thought of that yet," Wei Wuxian admitted. 

Wen Qing sighed in exasperation. "Is this meeting over? You're chasing away all our customers." 

"As long as all of you promise to come help me once I call, the opportunity to search Meng Yao's room may come up very suddenly," Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. "In the meantime, let's just keep an eye on Meng Yao as much as possible."

They politely declined Grandma Wen's invitation to stay for dinner and split up to go to their separate homes. Oddly enough, Wen Qing had awkwardly given Lan Wangji a sort of encouraging pat on the back when they left, and Wei Wuxian couldn't help noticing that Lan Wangji was even quieter than usual on the drive back to the Lan residence. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" he finally asked when he couldn't bear the silence anymore. 

"Why are you going to all this trouble?" Lan Wangji asked.

"Well, your brother is a nice guy," Wei Wuxian replied.

"You've barely spoken to him." 

No, that wasn't quite true. He'd had a confusing conversation with Lan Xichen where Lan Xichen thanked him for being a friend to his brother. But Lan Wangji didn't need to know about that, and he didn't need to know that Wei Wuxian had been making the effort to wake up early every morning so that he could listen to Lan Wangji playing the violin in the back garden, and that he'd nearly crashed into Lan Xichen once while making the mad dash back to Lan Wangji's room to quickly hop back under the covers so that Lan Wangji wouldn't know that he'd been awake. He owed Lan Xichen one for being nice enough not to tell anyone. 

Wei Wuxian forced out a laugh. "Aiyah, Lan Zhan! You're thinking too much, why are you so suspicious of my intentions?" Too late, Wei Wuxian realised that he'd been too familiar with Lan Wangji in using his given name, but he couldn't tell if he had taken offence or even noticed.

"I didn't mean that. Thank you for looking out for my brother," Lan Wangji replied. 

"There's no need to be so polite with me. He's your brother, of course I don't want him to get hurt - when you care about someone, what's important to them becomes important to you too," Wei Wuxian said off-handedly. 

Lan Wangji stiffened, clenching his hands on the steering wheel. Wei Wuxian replayed what he'd just said in his head and could have kicked himself.

"I meant as a friend! I care about you as a friend, a very good friend," Wei Wuxian said in a panic. He held his breath, hoping just a little for Lan Wangji to say something that would indicate that he wanted something more too, but to his disappointment, Lan Wangji just frowned and turned back to the road. 

"I'm glad that you think of me as a friend," he said. 

"I'm glad, too," Wei Wuxian said miserably, slouching in his seat.

--

But after a few days, they'd had no luck catching Meng Yao being up to any shady business, and Wei Wuxian was going crazy. For one, things at the Lan residence had gotten very weird. Lan Wangji seemed upset with his brother and his morning violin performances were now sad and angry. Meng Yao had taken to coming over almost every evening, smiling his infuriating sweet smile at them, but since Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had agreed that they wouldn't leave Meng Yao alone with Lan Xichen, Meng Yao was obviously getting frustrated about them finding excuses to hover around them. Lan Qiren was annoyed at the two extra guests that were constantly in his house, while Lan Xichen was just politely puzzled by the state of things. 

Secondly, even though there had been no repeat of the morning cuddling incident because Wei Wuxian now made an effort to put a pillow between them before going to bed, his body remembered the feeling of having Lan Wangji in his arms. Sometimes, Wei Wuxian woke up in the middle of the night in a shock with a hard-on after a dream where they'd done a lot more than cuddle, and with Lan Wangji lying right there, close enough to touch. He didn't think Lan Wangji had noticed anything amiss, but Wei Wuxian knew he couldn't bear this close proximity with Lan Wangji any longer. He would stay until this issue with Meng Yao was settled, so that Lan Wangji didn't have to deal with it alone, and then it was time to move out if he wanted to have any chance of keeping their friendship. 

Well, desperate times called for desperate measures. 

"Do you think your brother would agree if I asked him and Meng Yao to go on a double date with us?" Wei Wuxian asked Lan Wangji one evening before bed.

Lan Wangji looked sharply at him. "What?"

"I'm sure he can tell that there's no love lost between us and Meng Yao. I thought we could offer to bury the hatchet and pick Meng Yao up after school. I could give him the shovel talk to distract him enough for you to meddle with the door to disable the auto-lock, and the rest of them will be able to search his room." 

"Are you sure you want my brother to think that we are dating?" Lan Wangji asked flatly. 

"He probably won't believe it. You said nobody would ever believe that you'd date someone like me, I haven't forgotten," Wei Wuxian said with a forced laugh. "Can you just play along with me? 

Lan Wangji frowned but nodded, and Wei Wuxian sighed in bittersweet relief. At least he'd have the chance to have one date with Lan Wangji, even if it was just pretend. 

They arranged to meet Lan Xichen at the mall for a movie and went to Meng Yao's room much earlier than the agreed time. Meng Yao wasn't stupid, so he was expecting them of course. 

"You wanted to talk to me about Xichen-ge?" he guessed. "Just as well. I wanted to talk to you as well."

He was standing right at the doorway blocking their way. Wei Wuxian caught a glimpse of a tidy room behind him, nothing out of place. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji took a few steps forward, using their height advantage over Meng Yao to loom over him, and he took a step back warily. 

"We'll be blunt with you. You don't like us, and we don't like you. You can see why we'd be wary of you trying to get close to Xichen-ge," Wei Wuxian said. 

Meng Yao sighed, his expression softening a little. "I know we've had our disagreements..."

Wei Wuxian snorted. "You got me kicked out of the dorms on purpose. I wouldn't call it a 'disagreement'."

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji was surreptitiously wedging a small lump of Play-Doh inside the hole in the door frame where the lock's bolt was supposed to go. They needed just enough to stick the door shut so Meng Yao wouldn't get suspicious but prevent the auto-lock from kicking in, and Wei Wuxian could only keep his fingers crossed that it would work. 

"Pets are not allowed. You were breaking the rules," Meng Yao pointed out. "But for Xichen-ge's sake, I'm willing to apologise for the inconvenience it's caused you. I'm serious about Xichen-ge and I want us to get along."

Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes at Meng Yao. "And we're just supposed to believe that you aren't out to break his heart?"

"You're not the one who matters. As long as Xichen-ge knows that my feelings for him are true," Meng Yao replied calmly. "And as long as you two stay out of our business, I'll stay out of yours."

"We're going to be late," Lan Wangji interrupted, which meant that he had finished his sabotage.

Wei Wuxian shrugged and plastered on a smile as he slung an arm around Meng Yao. "Alright, we'll let bygones be bygones, no hard feelings! You're ready to go, right?"

Meng Yao was distracted by Wei Wuxian's sudden familiarity but he still had the presence of mind to pull the door shut firmly behind him. Lan Wangji promptly dropped his phone on the floor with a loud clatter, hopefully covering up the fact that there was no click of the door locking. It seemed to have worked; Meng Yao allowed Wei Wuxian to drag him towards the stairs, and Wei Wuxian winked at Lan Wangji over his shoulder. 

--

Wei Wuxian should probably have paid more attention when they were discussing what movie to watch, but he'd been busy secretly texting his group chat for updates and had absent-mindedly agreed to whatever they'd suggested, and it wasn't until they were seated in the dark and he was startled by the extremely loud whine of a puppy coming from the theatre's surround-sound system that he realised they were watching a movie about a dog. 

"Are you alright?" Lan Wangji asked when Wei Wuxian let out a whimper. 

"I'm fine. Totally fine," Wei Wuxian squeaked, clutching his armrests and trying to remind himself that they were just images on a screen and couldn't chase or bite him. It was just a movie about a cute little Labrador Retriever puppy learning how to become a guide dog, there was absolutely nothing to be afraid of - if only his stupid brain would listen.

"Do you want to leave?" Lan Wangji asked.

Lan Xichen and Meng Yao were looking over now, and he didn't want them to leave the theatre or for Meng Yao to get suspicious. "No, I'm ok."

Then Lan Wangji took his hand in his, and Wei Wuxian was temporarily distracted from his phobia. He closed his eyes, holding Lan Wangji's hand a little tighter, and Lan Wangji gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, but it wasn't quite enough. The next time the dog onscreen barked, he jumped a little and buried his face in Lan Wangji's shoulder. Lan Wangji shifted his weight in his seat, and Wei Wuxian could hear his own heart pounding in his ears when Lan Wangji gingerly put an arm around him. Wei Wuxian could hear Lan Wangji's breathing, more rapid than you would think from his calm expression, and smell his shampoo. They stayed like that until the movie was over, only breaking apart when the end credits rolled and the lights came on.

"Sorry," Wei Wuxian said.

"There's no need to apologise," Lan Wangji replied quietly.

Wei Wuxian walked out of the cinema in a daze and jumped when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket; he'd almost forgotten this was all just part of the scheme to expose Meng Yao. He skimmed through the message and the photos quickly with satisfaction, then called out to Meng Yao and Lan Xichen, who were walking slightly ahead of him.

"Hey, Xichen-ge, do you know someone named Su She?"

Meng Yao went pale and shot Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji a poisonous look.

"Yes, he's my classmate," Lan Xichen replied. "Why do you mention him?"

"Well, it seems he's asked a friend to do him a favour. You see, you're both eyeing the same teaching position with the university after graduation, and with your uncle being the Dean, he thought you had an unfair advantage. So he asked Meng Yao to replace your final thesis with a version filled with plagiarised paragraphs so that your uncle can't give you the position in good conscience."

Lan Xichen frowned. "If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't a very funny one."

"I have all the proof here," Wei Wuxian said, holding his phone up. "Copies of email correspondence between Meng Yao and Su She. Approaching you in the cafe was just a distraction. We found a copy of your final thesis on his computer that he probably stole that day so he could make the corrupted version - there's no reason why he would have had it, right?"

"Why would A-Yao do something like that?" Lan Xichen countered. 

"Because Meng Yao does assignments for students who are too lazy to write their own essays and can afford to pay someone else to do the work for them. And Su She found out."

"I didn't have a choice, I did that so I would have enough money to pay for my tuition fees," Meng Yao blurted out. "I would have been expelled if Su She reported me to the Dean. But I wasn't going to go through with it! was going to lie to Su She that I'd done it, and gotten him out of my way later."

"If you could have gotten rid of Su She anyway without falling for his blackmail, why did you ask Xichen-ge out in the first place? You knew who he was and you meant to hurt him - or someone who cared for him," Wei Wuxian said accusingly. 

Meng Yao ignored him and turned to Lan Xichen imploringly. "Xichen-ge, I'll admit that I approached you with ill intentions, but my feelings for you are real now." 

"A-Yao, I don't know what to believe," Lan Xichen said, shaking his head. "I... I won't report your activities to my uncle if you don't try to get back at Wangji and Wuxian for this. But I don't think we should see each other anymore."

"Xichen-ge!" Meng Yao protested, but Lan Xichen wouldn't even look at him, and he jumped visibly when he caught sight of someone over Lan Xichen's shoulder. "Ok, I understand. Goodbye, Xichen-ge," he said sadly, but got out of there as fast as his legs could carry him.

Wei Wuxian turned and was surprised to see Nie Mingjue standing a short distance away, observing everything that had gone down and glowering at Meng Yao's retreating form. He came closer and gently put his hand on Lan Xichen's shoulder. 

"Are you alright?" 

"Oh, Mingjue. What a coincidence," Lan Xichen greeted him, too miserable to smile. 

"Do you want me to send you home? You can vent your frustrations at me if you want to," Nie Mingjue offered gruffly. 

"Yes, I think I don't want to be alone right now," Lan Xichen replied. He turned to Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian but couldn't seem to put what he wanted to say in words and simply left with Nie Mingjue. 

"What were the chances of Mingjue-ge just happening to be here?" Wei Wuxian wondered.

Lan Wangji had been reading through the evidence that the rest had obtained and hummed. "How did they get into Meng Yao's computer?" 

"Apparently Huaisang has been hiding some mad hacking skills," Wei Wuxian replied, still thinking about 'coincidences'. "Remind me never to get on Huaisang's bad side."

Wei Wuxian reported their success to his group chat, feeling a little heavy-hearted now that the issue was mostly settled. "Huaisang is offering to steal some booze from his family's cellar so we can celebrate. You should come," he said. 

"I don't drink," Lan Wangji said, but he came along anyway. 

---

Wei Wuxian hadn't meant to drink that much. He had a good tolerance for alcohol, but he'd already decided to tell Lan Wangji that he was moving out tomorrow even though he didn't have anywhere to go, and he didn't want to think about it at all. Lan Wangji seemed to be in a better mood than he'd been in days, though. Wei Wuxian supposed he was relieved that they'd been successful at exposing Meng Yao, and his brother was better off knowing the truth even if it hurt him now. When the party finally broke up, Wei Wuxian wasn't exactly drunk but he didn't complain when Lan Wangji quietly put an arm around him to help him to the car, and if he leaned in a little into Lan Wangji's touch, could he really be blamed? 

The Lan residence was dark and quiet when they got back. Lan Qiren was probably asleep and it seemed like Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue had gone somewhere else to talk, probably because Meng Yao had been over so often and Lan Xichen didn't want to be reminded of his heartbreak.

"What are you doing?" Wei Wuxian protested feebly when Lan Wangji tried to help him onto the bed still fully dressed.

"Go to sleep."

"I can't sleep like this."

"I don't want you to fall down in the shower and hurt yourself."

"Then shower with me," Wei Wuxian joked, not sober enough to panic about flirting with Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji didn't get angry, though. "Go to sleep," he repeated, trying to make Wei Wuxian lie down. But Wei Wuxian was a little heavier than he'd expected and Lan Wangji overbalanced and ended up with his face a few inches away from Wei Wuxian's, hands braced on either side of his body - almost like that accidental kiss so many months ago when they'd both been freshmen, just that their positions were reversed.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian whispered.

He saw Lan Wangji's gaze flicker down to his lips, and maybe he imagined it but Lan Wangji leaned forward just a little before jerking back.

"Go to sleep," he repeated firmly, voice low and a little rough, and hurried off to the bathroom.

Wei Wuxian lay in bed for a while, feeling like he'd just taken a sledgehammer to the gut, but what had he expected anyway? He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep when Lan Wangji came out of the bathroom, and once he was sure Lan Wangji was asleep, he got out of bed, slumping on the floor. A-Yuan came over, nose twitching, and Wei Wuxian picked him up to hold him close to his chest. He allowed himself a few tears, then wiped them away ruthlessly. He'd ruined everything anyway, even after trying so hard not to.

Lan Wangji wasn't a heavy sleeper, so Wei Wuxian didn't risk trying to pack his things. All he took was his phone, wallet, and laptop, plus a few shirts shoved blindly into his backpack. He would ask Jiang Cheng to help him pick up the rest some other time.

"A-Yuan, I'll leave him to you. Take care of him for me, ok?" Wei Wuxian whispered, and picked A-Yuan up to give him a kiss on the head before he quietly walked out of the door without a backward glance.

The Lans lived a distance away from anything, the nearest little cluster of shops being at least half-an-hour's walk away. Wei Wuxian hadn't had much of a plan other than to maybe go to the 24-hour convenience store and beg to be allowed to hang out there until it was a reasonable time to call Jiang Cheng so his brother wouldn't yell at him, but because his luck was just that bad, it had started raining. Again.

At least the cold rain was making him feel a lot more sober. He hugged his backpack to his chest and hunched his shoulders, trying to protect his laptop from the worst of the rain. He really couldn't afford to get another one, so when a car came by, he stuck his hand out and waved, hoping to get a lift. He wasn't expecting it to be Lan Wangji.

"Wei Ying, where are you going?" Lan Wangji asked worriedly, pushing the door open for him. 

Wei Wuxian sighed. Lan Wangji's pity was the last thing he wanted right now. "Leave me alone."

He turned away and kept walking, but there was the sound of a door opening and Lan Wangji came out after him in the rain.

"What are you doing? Go back to your car and go home!" he yelled at Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji ignored him and caught up with him in a few long strides. "Wei Ying, come home with me. You're drunk."

"I'm not drunk, I'm just an idiot," Wei Wuxian shot back, walking a little faster. 

"Is this because I didn't kiss you?" 

Wei Wuxian stopped short. Lan Wangji was just standing there in silence waiting for his response, so Wei Wuxian decided to bite the bullet and looked him straight in the eye. 

"It's not your fault that you didn't want to kiss me. It's not your fault that you don't feel the same way about me," Wei Wuxian said, trying to keep his voice steady even though he was shivering from the cold and there was a lump in his throat. "All I ask is that you try to forget that this ever happened. I hope we can still be friends."

Lan Wangji took a step closer. "I didn't kiss you because I didn't want to kiss you when you were drunk."

Wei Wuxian stared at him. "What?" 

"I didn't want you to wake up sober tomorrow and regret it or forget all about it. I wanted this time to count."

The little things that Wei Wuxian hadn't wanted to read too much into - Lan Wangji's odd grocery runs at the Wen's shop, the sad violin music, even the fact that Lan Wangji had agreed to let him sleep in his room - now made perfect sense, and his friends were going to give him so much shit for this. But the only reply Wei Wuxian could think of was, "I'm not drunk."

"You ran out of the house in the middle of the night in a storm," Lan Wangji pointed out sceptically.

"It wasn’t raining when I left," Wei Wuxian protested.

Lan Wangji took a step towards him.

"I'm not drunk," Wei Wuxian repeated in a whisper, and then Lan Wangji kissed him.

Their first kiss had been a confusion of tangled limbs and falling, an accidental press of lips that barely counted as a kiss. This time, Lan Wangji kissed him slowly, deliberately, tilting his head before closing the distance between them to claim his lips with his own. Wei Wuxian forgot how to breathe. Lan Wangji's lips were cold from the rain, but that wasn't why he was shivering. Lan Wangji had his bottom lip caught between his, a gentle pressure connecting them, and when Lan Wangji pulled away, Wei Wuxian found himself chasing the contact before he stopped himself and opened his eyes.

Lan Wangji hadn't moved too far. His face was barely an inch away, so close Wei Wuxian could see raindrops caught in his eyelashes and the light from the headlights of his car turning his brown eyes golden. Wei Wuxian surged forward to kiss Lan Wangji back and Lan Wangji let out a small sound of surprise that Wei Wuxian felt like a jolt of electricity all the way to his core. Wei Wuxian tasted rain on Lan Wangji's lips and they were so soft and pliant against his that he never wanted to let him go. Lan Wangji put a hand on his waist to pull him in, and it was only Wei Wuxian's bag between them that broke the mood. Lan Wangji looked so frustrated about being thwarted by his backpack that Wei Wuxian started giggling, partly out of relief and partly out of nerves, and once he started he couldn't stop.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he wheezed, trying to get himself under control. 

Lan Wangji shook his head, smiling one of his rare smiles, and Wei Wuxian let him take his hand and lead him back to the car.

Wei Wuxian's teeth were chattering by the time they got in the car, even with Lan Wangji turning up the heater, but Lan Wangji had found him just in time; the rain was getting heavier, making it hard to see much in front of them. Wei Wuxian's jacket had shielded him from the worst of the rain but Lan Wangji had run out after him in his sleep clothes, his white t-shirt and thin pants clinging onto his body in a very interesting way, and Wei Wuxian couldn't help sneaking a few glances. As expected, after a while Lan Wangji let out a very loud sneeze.

"Isn't it uncomfortable sitting in your wet clothes like that? You should take those off," Wei Wuxian teased. "Well, I'm going to take mine off."

He took off his dripping wet jacket with slightly more flair than was probably necessary, then sat there blatantly ogling Lan Wangji. He could hardly believe that he could do this now, knowing that his feelings for Lan Wangji were reciprocated, and it was such a relief not to have to tread on eggshells around Lan Wangji anymore that Wei Wuxian had to admit he was feeling a little giddy on it. He touched his lips, remembering the kiss. 

"Where did you learn to kiss like that, Lan Zhan? If I wasn't afraid of distracting you from driving, I'd kiss you again." 

He was expecting Lan Wangji to roll his eyes at him. Instead, Lan Wangji took a sharp right turn off the road and down a narrow dirt path through the woods that was barely wide enough for the car to pass. 

"What are you doing?" Wei Wuxian yelped, clinging onto the dashboard. 

"Letting you distract me from driving," Lan Wangji replied simply. 

Once they were out of view from the road, Lan Wangji pulled the brakes and unbuckled his seat belt, and Wei Wuxian gasped in surprise when Lan Wangji cupped his face and kissed him deeply. After some fumbling, Wei Wuxian managed to get his seat belt open as well, leaning in to get closer to Lan Wangji but finding too many things in the way. 

"Backseat," Lan Wangji suggested as he kissed his way down Wei Wuxian's neck. 

Wei Wuxian moaned, tilting his head up to give Lan Wangji more room to work. "Backseat," he agreed. 

There wasn't much space still; Lan Wangji's car was big but both of them were tall, and making out in a car had definitely looked less awkward in the movies. Lan Wangji had Wei Wuxian pinned against the window, their hands under each other's shirts, and Wei Wuxian groaned when Lan Wangji hiked up his shirt to plant blistering kisses on his rain-chilled skin. 

"Lan Zhan," he whispered, tangling a hand in Lan Wangji's hair and crying out as Lan Wangji's tongue found a nipple. 

How far were they going to go? Just a while ago, they'd kissed each other properly for the first time. Wei Wuxian got his answer when Lan Wangji began to unbutton his jeans. 

"I can't believe I'm going to lose my virginity in the backseat of your car," Wei Wuxian said breathlessly, lifting his hips so Lan Wangji could pull his jeans down more easily. 

Lan Wangji stopped, his fingers still hooked in the waistband of Wei Wuxian's jeans. "Do you want me to stop?" 

Wei Wuxian opened his eyes to find Lan Wangji between his legs with an uneasy expression on his face and he huffed in fond exasperation. "No, don't stop, I'm perfectly happy with losing it anywhere, as long as it's with you. Come on, Lan Zhan."  

Between the two of them, they managed to get Wei Wuxian's wet jeans off with some difficulty. Then Lan Wangji carefully pulled Wei Wuxian's boxers down to his thighs, freeing his cock, and took a deep breath before diving down to take Wei Wuxian's cock into the warm heat of his mouth. 

"Teeth, Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian hissed, then Lan Wangji did something with his tongue and Wei Wuxian cried out and bucked his hips, and Lan Wangji choked when the head of Wei Wuxian's cock slid in too deep and hit the back of his throat. 

"Sorry, are you ok?" Wei Wuxian asked, struggling to sit up, but Lan Wangji just pinned his hips down and went down on him again, wrapping a hand around the base of Wei Wuxian's cock this time. 

It took Lan Wangji a while to get the hang of it, but honestly it wouldn't have taken much to get Wei Wuxian off. After all, even in his wildest fantasies he'd never imagined that he'd be sprawled half-naked at the back of Lan Wangji's car, watching Lan Wangji's lips slide up and down his length and drowning in the incredible suction and heat on his cock while the rain thundered outside. 

"Lan Zhan, I'm going to come," he gasped in warning as the pleasure peaked. 

But Lan Wangji only pulled away a little before fitting his lips over the head of Wei Wuxian's cock, and Wei Wuxian moaned loudly as he watched Lan Wangji swallow his release, chasing down every last drop of come with his tongue as he licked Wei Wuxian's cock clean. 

"Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian whispered in wonder. 

Without a word, Lan Wangji got up and straddled Wei Wuxian's thighs. His lips were red and swollen, and Wei Wuxian could see the bulge of his erection straining against the thin wet fabric of his pants. He couldn't resist reaching out to cup Lan Wangji's cock with one hand, and Lan Wangji bit down on his lips to stifle whatever sound he'd been about to make. Lan Wangji made short work of the drawstrings of his pants, and once he got his cock out, he grabbed Wei Wuxian's hand and guided him to wrap it around his cock so they could get him off together. Wei Wuxian held his breath as he drank up the sight of Lan Wangji on top of him, his eyes fixed on Wei Wuxian's and the cords in his neck standing out as their linked hands stroked his cock, and it only took a few moments for Lan Wangji to start coming. He aimed his cock downwards and Wei moaned when he saw and felt the warm spurts of Lan Wangji's release landing on his balls and spent cock, making a mess of him. 

--

A sharp rap on the window woke Wei Wuxian the next morning. He and Lan Wangji had been curled up in the cramped backseat of the car, his head on Lan Wangji's chest, and they both startled when they saw Lan Xichen outside the car. He must have spotted Lan Wangji's white car, much more obvious in the morning light even though it was off the road and hidden amongst the trees, and come up to check if everything was ok. He'd turned his head away politely, but Wei Wuxian couldn't help feeling flustered about being caught in such a state by Lan Wangji's brother. After all, he'd found them wrapped around each other, and even though Lan Wangji had covered them with a throw blanket he kept in the car for emergencies, Wei Wuxian's damp jeans were still hanging off the back of the driver's seat. 

"I'll distract Uncle so he doesn't realise you weren't home last night," Lan Xichen said, and walked away. He'd been smiling though, and Wei Wuxian was kind of relieved that he wasn't mad about him defiling his baby brother, but seeing Lan Xichen reminded him of one thing that he hadn't quite figured out.

"Why were you mad at your brother? Was it anything to do with me?" he asked Lan Wangji, grabbing his jeans and making a face as he pulled on the wet denim.

After a long silence, Lan Wangji finally admitted, "I was jealous."

"Jealous?" It took a while for that to sink in. "You thought I was interested in your brother?" Wei Wuxian said in disbelief. Lan Wangji gave him a pointed look, daring him to tease him for it, and Wei Wuxian just grinned and raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I honestly thought you needed to drive across town to buy toilet cleaner at 11pm. I'm the idiot."

They tried to make themselves as presentable as possible and followed Lan Xichen's car back to the house, then crept back into the house as quietly as they could while Lan Xichen was bearing the brunt of Lan Qiren's wrath for not coming home the night before. Once they walked through the bedroom door, A-Yuan bounded up to greet them. 

"Hey. I guess I'm back after all," Wei Wuxian murmured, patting the rabbit fondly.

"A-Yuan woke me up. He kept scratching at the door, and that's when I realised that you were gone," Lan Wangji told him. 

"So you're the one who snitched on me!" Wei Wuxian scolded the rabbit with a laugh. It nibbled affectionately on his sleeve. 

"I think he's trying to tell you that he's glad you're back. And he hopes you'll stay."

Wei Wuxian felt a smile tug at his lips. "He does, huh?" He straightened up and walked over to Lan Wangji, who was looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Well, I can't possibly disappoint our kid, can I?" Wei Wuxian said, then cupped Lan Wangji's face gently. "It's morning, I remember everything, and I sure as hell don't regret it. Do you?"

Lan Wangji shook his head, smiling slowly, and Wei Wuxian tilted his chin up to let Lan Wangji kiss him again, and again, and again.