Midnight Episode

He also felt awful that, on his bad days, most of the household duties fell on his husband's shoulders. He knew Lan Zhan didn't mind; Lan Zhan cared more about him being home safe, where he could be watched. If that meant taking on more of the household duties, he wouldn't complain. Wei Ying still felt bad, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Of the things his doctor had diagnosed him with, the bad days still happened, even medicated, though less frequently. ​It's times like these that Wei Ying wishes he could just rip his brain out and replace it with a new one that actually works. But that falls into the things he can't control, and he's going to have to learn to live with it. He can't really complain about all of it now, though. He's in a much better place than he used to be. He's only in his head because he's upset that his husband is out of town on a business trip. ​He was so lost in thought that he didn't even hear the footsteps approaching the living room couch. "Baba?" a hesitant voice asked softly. The sound was enough to shock Wei Ying out of his stupor. He would recognize that voice anywhere. Turning around, he saw his son standing in the hallway behind the sofa. Even though Yuan was quite tall for his age, seeing the pre-teen standing there in the dark in his pajamas made him look so small it hurt Wei Ying's heart. ​Thinking something must be seriously wrong for his very brave and stubborn son to get out of bed and seek him out, Wei Ying popped up from the couch and hurried around it to see what the matter was. "What's wrong?" he asked in a slightly urgent tone as he took long strides toward his son. He checked him over for injuries or fevers and found nothing, so he furrowed his brows and tried to figure out what was wrong. Their son was a lot like his A-Die; once Lan Zhan went to sleep, he stayed that way until morning unless something urgent came up. Multiple times over the past couple of years, Wei Ying's personal issues had woken his husband for one reason or another, but his husband was a man of routine, and their son, albeit not as strict, was very much the same. ​Yuan didn't say anything at first, but he did shuffle closer. Wrapping his arms around the pre-teen, Wei Ying hummed to himself. It wasn't that his son wasn't affectionate toward them, but he hadn't been this clingy since he came home from the hospital after his incident. Giving his son a couple of seconds to just be, Wei Ying hoped whatever was wrong wasn't too serious. He hated seeing anyone he loved suffer, especially his son. ​Loosening his grip allowed Yuan to pull away when needed. It was easy to tell that his son's eyes were bloodshot and that he had been crying. Worry built in the pit of Wei Ying's stomach. His son was a very happy, easy-go-lucky child, and it really took a lot for him to show his emotions like this, which he got from both of them, sadly. ​"Baobei," Wei Ying whispered softly, brushing back his son's bangs. "What's wrong?" Yuan didn't say anything at first, but after a couple of minutes he spoke up. "I..." he started. "I had a nightmare..." Yuan said. "I went to check your and A-die's room, and you weren't there..." He trailed off with a sniffle. Wei Ying couldn't help but wince a bit at his son's omission. He always struggled to sleep when his husband was away, but he tended to forget that while he struggled the most with it, Yuan did sometimes as well. Pulling his son closer, Wei Ying tightened the embrace to make sure his son knew he was there. "It's okay, baby," Wei Ying said. "I'm here, I'm here, I promise." He told the pre-teen. "I'm sorry you got scared," he told his son, ushering them both back to the couch. The two settled down together, with Yuan curled up into his father's side as Wei Ying draped the blanket he was using earlier over the other of them. The two of them didn't say anything to each other yet, but he could feel Yuan relaxing a bit the more that they were together. Wei Ying was prepared to sit there as long as needed to make sure his son was all right. Just as he was about to tell Yuan that, the boy finally spoke up. ​"It.. It was very dark..." Yuan said suddenly. "I couldn't see anything in front of me, but I could just feel all the bad around me." He told him. "I went looking for you and A-die and couldn't find you," he said. "It felt like the darkness was coming for me, and the more I struggled, the worse it got," he said. "Eventually, it got me, and I woke up," Yuan said. He then turned to face Wei Ying, and tears were pooling in the boy's eyes again. "I went to your room to look for you, and when I saw it was empty, I got scared." He whispered. Wei Ying just pulled the boy closer to him, shushing him gently as he went. ​" It's okay." He whispered. "It's okay, Baba is here, and I'm not going anywhere, and A-die will be home tomorrow, alright?" He asked. "We're not going to leave you, Yuan; we both love you so much." Wei Ying told him. "You're going to be stuck with us for the rest of your life, do you hear me?" He asked his son. His son nodded his head in response, still sniffling. Wei Ying just ran his fingers through his son's hair. "I know your nightmare was scary, and you have every right to be afraid of it, but we're not leaving you, Yuan, ever." He told him. "You're going to be stuck with me and your A-die when we're old and senile, and we're doing nothing but causing you problems, you hear me?" That got a small chuckle out of the boy. ​The two of them ended up staying together on the couch the rest of the night, holding onto each other for dear life, both afraid to let the other go. Eventually Yuan had fallen asleep in his father's arms, and Wei Ying lay there and held his son for a bit more before he himself finally succumbed to sleep. And that was the position Lan Zhan found them in when he came home the next day earlier than he had intended to surprise his family.