MY ONE & ONLY OPTION ( Wangxian Rom-com)(COMPLETED)

Chapter-17

Lanzhan gave His a half-smile. “My therapist taught me, actually. I...I’m not really a stranger to anxiety and panic attacks. Mine usually resulted in angry outbursts and being an asshole, but deep breathing still helped.”

“Thank you,” He murmured. Weiying nibbled on His bottom lip. “We’ll get through this, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Lanzhan told Him confidently. “We’ve made it this far. Just a few more days and the worst of it will be over, okay?”

“Yeah, just a few more days.” He let out a breath.

Surprising even himself, Lanzhan suddenly reached out and pulled him into a hug. Weiying froze for a moment, but then He relaxed as He wrapped His arms around him and leaned His head against his chest. Lanzhan closed his eyes and took a shallow breath.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“For what?” Weiying asked him quietly.

He shrugged. “For...doing this. You didn’t have to. You didn’t really know me from cold behavior, but you agreed to help me. To marry me, to be with me for five years so I can stay in the country. I can’t...there aren’t words, Weiying.”

He could hear the unsteady rhythm of his heart beneath his ear. He could hear the rawness, the honesty in his voice. Unexpected tears stung his eyes and Weiying blinked them away. He wrapped His arms around him a little tighter, and He felt his heart skip a beat in his chest.

“Like I said,” He murmured. “I never turn my back on people who need me.” He pulled back far enough to look up at him, a smile tugging up the corner of His lips. “Besides, I have to admit, you’re not the worst Alpha I could marry. You’re a really good Alpha, Lanzhan.”

He returned his smile with one of his own as a red blush rose in his cheeks. “Thank you.”

They paused like that, just looking at one another, their arms still around each other. Weiying felt his breath hitch in his throat as He looked up into his loved, unreadable gaze. He watched as his eyes dropped to His mouth for just the briefest of moments, and His heart stilled in His chest.

He watched as he swallowed hard, the knot in his throat bobbing as he did. His fingers flexed against His waist and then suddenly, yet so slowly, like He was watching it happen in slow-motion, Lanzhan inclined his head towards His. Even more surprising, He found Himself reaching up to meet him halfway.

But then the door burst open and Sizhui bounced into the room, already half-way through His sentence by the time He made it over the threshold: “Hey, Madam Yu and Mom wanted me to see what was taking you two so—”

He stopped, moving and talking, when He saw Lanzhan and Weiying jump apart, each of them turning red.

“Oh, sorry!” Sizuhi apologized, His eyes widening. “Just um, like I said—”

“Yeah, yeah, no worries,” Lanzhan said, sounding decidedly out of breath. He raked one hand through his hair. “Uh, we’ll be down in just a second, Sizuhi.”

Sizuhi nodded. “Yeah, okay.” Then He ducked back out the door, shutting it behind His.

Lanzhan could barely look at Weiying, his cheeks burning. “I guess we should, uh, go downstairs.

______________________________________

Lanzhan watched as Xichen, Lan Qiren, and Meng Yao stepped off of the plane. Xichen came out first, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses against the bright sunlight. There was no warm reunion for them like there had been with Weiying’s family, although it wasn’t like Lanzhan had expected there to be.

“Hello, brother,” Xichen drawled as He propped His rolling suitcase upright. He did offer him a smile. “Are you ready to get married?”

“As I’ll ever be, I’m sure,” he murmured before Lan Qiren joined them.

His uncle wrapped him in a warm embrace that nearly pressed the air from his lungs. 

“How are things between you and Weiying?” Lan Qiren asked him as he eyed Lanzhan, seeming to imply more with his eyes than he had with his words.

“Good, great,” Lanzhan replied stiffly. “Things are uh...great, between us.”

Lan Qiren’s eyebrows lifted, and Lanzhan knew that his uncle could see right through his bullshit. But he didn’t feel like a Lan Qiren interrogation, or worse, his advice-slash-metaphors, so he stepped around him and went and helped Meng Yao down onto the tarmac, taking His suitcase from His.

“Gah, this is so exciting!” Meng Yao chirped once He was safely on solid ground. Then He threw His arms around him and pecked his cheek. “You’re getting married!”

“Need I remind you it’s fake? ” Lanzhan quipped, but he couldn’t help but smile at His enthusiasm.

Meng Yao’s eyes widened as they cut to Lan Qiren, and he suddenly remembered that he’d neglected to tell his brother and His fiancée that Lan Qiren was in on it now, and had been for a month.

“Oh, yeah, Uncle Qiren knows,” Lanzhan said with a Sheepish smile. 

“Well, is there anyone you haven’t told, gege?” Xichen drawled as He crossed His arms over His chest, rolling His eyes. 

“Mom and Sizhui don’t know, and neither does Weiying’s family,” Lanzhan replied. He gave His a stern look. “And it’s going to stay that way. Now come on. Let’s get you guys back to the house so you can meet everyone.” 

They loaded up into the rental car, and then Lanzhan drove them back to Song Lan’s House. Weiying had offered to go with them, but he had declined. He needed a break away from everyone, at least for the hour he’d been gone so far, to think and to clear his head. He hadn’t stopped thinking about what his motHis had said the night before, how He thought Weiying was in love with him. 

His mom was probably mistaken. Of course He’d think that Weiying was in love with him. They’d been pretending for weeks now. They were trying to convince the others that they were in love. So Lanzhan was trying not to feel hopeful, but it was hard not to, especially after his and Weiying’s conversation, the way He had seemed to hint that maybe He had stronger feelings for him than He’d admitted. 

They arrived back at the house and introductions were made. Madam Lan and Madam Yu immediately stole Meng Yao (and by extension, Xichen) to talk over wedding details along with Granny and Huaisung. Weiying father's brought Lan Qiren into the kitchen for tea, which he was more than happy to oblige to. That left him, Weiying, Sizhui and Jiang Cheng. 

“I still can’t believe you’re getting married in four days,” Jiang Cheng remarked with a shake of his head as he looked at his brother. 

“How do you think I felt when you and Huaisung got married?” Weiying quipped back, putting his hands on his chest 

“This is different,” Jiang Cheng returned. “You’re my baby brother.” He looked at Lanzhan and jabbed a finger in his direction. “Just be glad I like you, or I would not be going quietly into the night.”

“Noted,” Lanzhan said with an affirmative nod.