Fifty-nine

Yibo's POV

Several weeks passed and summer rolled in. It took a few days, but Xiaos got used to Zhan and me being a couple. Nothing really changed between us. It felt wonderful knowing that he and I could be together with no one being upset, other than my father, anyway.

During the many days Yanli stayed over, she and Sarah became superb friends, despite them having such unique personalities. The yelling and profound language echoing from her room as they played video games put a smile on my face. Sarah didn't have many people she was close with after the incident, so it made me happy that she and Yanli got along. Yanli eventually had to leave, though. She had her own life away from her old home. Sarah continued to come over and hang out, though. The Xiaos were more than welcoming to her, so it made her feel at home, even more than her own. That's what she told me, anyway. She said she knows that her parents only want what's best for her, but the way they go about doing things is very unconventional.

The past couple of weeks, we started hanging out with Cheng as well. It was sort of Zhan's idea. One night while we were laying in bed I was expressing my gratitude for everyone's help, but I didn't know how to repay Cheng. That made Zhan wonder why we hadn't hung out with him more often.

The following morning, Zhan had Jang search for Cheng's address since he's skilled at things like that. Not too long later, he was handing Zhan a slit of paper. It was a tremendous help since we didn't really know where to start. After Sarah and I got off work, we all hopped in Zhan's car and headed for the address. Since it was summer, our work schedules changed. Allowing us more time in the day, but of course, work got a lot more hectic, too.

We reached a cozy neighbourhood, trying to find the right address. I looked up to a house that was fenced off with stone walls and a gate. I looked at the address plate nailed to the stone wall and it matched.

"Hey that's it!" I pointed in the direction.

"You're right." Zhan said, noticing the address plate. He pulled into the curb and shut off the car engine. Xichen being the energetic human that raced out the car before everyone else.

All of us stood at the gate while Zhan walked up the narrow stone path leading to the porch stairs of the house. He softly tapped on the door and waited for a response. Sarah took a seat on the stone fence and conversed with us while we waited.

Mid conversation, the door popped open, revealing the black head of hair that belonged to Cheng. He had his head back as he pulled open the door. He seemed to talk to someone.

His eyes widened when he saw all our faces hanging out outside his house. "I wasn't expecting company." He said, surprised.

"We thought we'd drop by and ask if you wanted to hang out." Zhan said. Just when I thought it wasn't possible, his surprise seemed to grow, only it faded as quickly as it appeared. He stepped out of his house and shut the door behind him, biting his nails.

"Guys, I'd love to hang out with you, it's just... if my parents found out, they'd have my head." He explained, disappointed.

"They don't have to know." Zhan smirked.

"I'm still grounded for pulling that stunt at school." Cheng dolefully explained. "The consequences would be dire." I couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Sorry, this is my fault." I apologised, lowering my head.

"Don't apologise. I did what I did of my own free will. It was the right thing to do." He assured me.

Everyone seemed to grow quiet, as if they were thinking.

"You know what? Screw it!" Cheng said suddenly. "I don't want to be caged here like an animal. I'm an adult, for crying out loud." He continued, heated.

"That's the spirit!" Zhan said before wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He stumbled under Zhan's weight as we made our way to the car.

The rest of the evening was a blast. We ventured out to one of the local restaurants for a meal, though it ended up being more of a buffet. The peach yoghurt was especially delicious, so much so that I took some to take home.

We sat in the park after a heated arcade session. Zhan trained Xichen at football while Cheng, Sarah, and I rested on the bench. We discussed various things, from games, books, to overbearing parents.

"Asians, am I right?" Sarah said nonchalantly in reply to Cheng, mentioning how insane and oppressive his parents could be.

I almost choked on the peach yoghurt I was eating. "That sounds like something Yanli would've said." I pointed out. Sarah just smiled.

"Any word on when she's coming back?" she asked.

"Dunno." I shrugged, turning back to the delicious treat.

"Yanli?" Cheng said, noticeably confused.

"Yeah. Zhan and Xichen's older sister. Sarah answered, "She's pretty cool." She shrugged.

I explained, remembering all the crazy things she did in the short time she was here. "She has no filter. She does as she pleases whenever she pleases." I said.

"That's what I like about her. She reminds me of my old friends, just less fake." Sarah chuckled.

We finished up at the park and took Cheng home. He said if he got home any later than seven, his parents would surely notice. It didn't matter in the end though, because they eventually found out. Somehow, we all started hanging out at Cheng's house. His parents took a liking to us when we helped with his chores, Sarah and I, that is. The only reason she agreed to help was because I offered to pay her some of my cash from work. I didn't need it anyway though. I'm only there for experience after all. Zhan and Xichen just sat in the corner talking with Mr. Jiang as they watched us clean. Mrs. Jiang was a very demanding and forward woman but she was cool. Cheng didn't think so though.

We spent the entire summer hanging out together. Me, Zhan, Sarah, Cheng and Xichen whenever he wasn't with his friends. Fall rolled around, and the leaves changed colour. The summer breeze faded into a chilling yet gentle fall breeze. The colours of the trees painted the neighbourhood. People had already begun setting up their Halloween and Christmas decorations. The Xiaos were guilty of this. But I didn't mind, I was just glad to celebrate a holiday again. It's been years since my family and I last celebrated anything. The warm late-year meals and all the decorations around had a nostalgic effect on me.

I've been through hell and never thought I would recover. However, here I am today, surrounded by people who love and accept me, in a warm, cosy home, separated from the chilling weather of the world. While I still long to recover some pieces from my past, I'm more than content with the one I'm living in now.

Just when I thought my crazy year had finally settled down, something unexpected happened.

One afternoon, Zhan, Xichen and I were hanging out in Yanli's room playing video games. We were keeping ourselves occupied until Jia finished the large turkey one of her friends brought over. The smell travelled throughout the house, capturing and caressing all of our noses.

"Yibo!" I heard Jia's voice call from downstairs. I set my controller down and dropped out of the game we were currently playing to see what Jia needed.

"Yeah?" I shouted as I raced down the stairs.

"Someone's at the door. Can you get it for me?" She asked, looking quite busy in the kitchen.

"Sure." I replied. It was an odd request coming from her since she never usually asks anything of me, but I paid little attention to it. I grabbed the handle before pulling open the door and stepping outside in just my light blue penguin pyjamas and my oversized grey sweatpants.

At first glance, I couldn't make out who it was since they were standing in the middle of Jia's flower garden. When they heard the door close behind me, they did finally turn around, revealing their face. It left me in shock.

.

.

.

.

"Mom?" My voice cracked as tears began building in my eyes. I knew I was a softy, but I never imagined I'd have this reaction.

Her look was painful and emotional. After a silent moment, tears dripped down our faces. She opened her arms as my body began a sprint towards her. Last time I wrapped my arms around her like this, she was so much bigger than me. Now I'm a few inches taller than her. It's been four years since I last saw her and somehow feels much longer. We stayed in that embrace for a long time. We didn't want this to happen. I guess she missed me as much as I missed her, or maybe even more.

"I'm so sorry." She repeated over and over. "I'm so sorry for leaving you alone with that terrible man.'

"It's okay, mom." I barely uttered a word.

"Did he hurt you?" She asked, with a worried look crossing her face as she pulled away.

"It... it doesn't matter now. I'm okay." I told her, offering a weak smile.

"Oh, my poor boy. " She broke into tears as she wrapped me in another hug.

After our rather emotional reunion, I invited her inside to meet the Xiaos. Zhan and Xichen came down to find out where I'd been, so the timing was just right.

"Who's this?" Zhan asked with a curious look when he saw me leading my mother inside.

"Guys, this is my mother." I happily introduced her. Zhan's eyes widened in surprise.

"You found your mother?" Xichen asked, shocked.

"It's more like she found me." I replied with a giggle.

"Mom, this is my friend, Xichen." I pointed toward him.

"Hi." He said, smiling cheekily.

"And this-" I looked over at Zhan. "Is my boyfriend, Zhan." I looked back to see her expression, and she broke into tears once again, holding her mouth.

"I've missed so much of your life." She sniffed. "I'm a failure as a mother."

"Don't say that. " I gave her a look of pity and placed a comforting hand on her back.

"It's true though. I should have never left you alone with that man." She wept.

"I don't blame you for that... while sometimes I was upset that you left me behind, I knew it was for the best. Everything turned out okay in the end, after all." I assured her.

"You've matured so much." She smiled behind her tears.

"That remains to be seen." I giggled.

I introduced Jia to my mom when she came into the living room. They'd already met over the phone the night prior. That's how she found me. That's why Jia wanted me to be the one to answer the door. My mom spent weeks looking around the old town where we used to live. She didn't find any information until she started asking in neighbouring towns.

We sat in the kitchen and caught up, catching up on the past couple of years. She told me she had a run in with my father when she returned to our old "home". He hasn't been doing much but watching TV in the dark. The house stank of rotten food and mold when she entered. Dad was still as unstable as ever and didn't know how to handle the reappearance of his wife. Their conversation started out civil, but when I was mentioned, he started losing control. He refused to speak of me and began tossing things. She left before he could cause her any harm. She then called the police. There were already multiple calls pending against him, but it turned out this one was enough to send it over. They found him guilty of fraud, theft, abuse, property damage, among many other charges, and those didn't even include what he'd done to my mother and I.

Mom stayed over for dinner and got to meet Xiao's. She continuously expressed her gratitude to them for taking me in.

"I can't thank you enough, Mr. and Mrs. Xiao. Whatever you need, I'll be more than happy to provide." Mom thanked them on her way out.

"In that case, how about another friend?" Jia laughed before hugging her. An enormous smile grew on mom's face. She giggled as she got emotional.

"Where do you live? I want to come and visit you sometime." I asked her, bouncing in place like a small kid.

"I live a few states over. Now that I have enough money saved up I would like to move out of mom's house and get a place somewhere closer to here so I can see my little boy every day." She smiled brightly.

After mom had departed, Zhan looked at me with a frown.

"Now that your mother is back, does this mean you won't be living with us anymore?" He asked, looking like a grieving puppy.

"Don't worry, I'll stay here as long as I'm welcomed." I assured him, standing on my tiptoes and placing a kiss on his lips. He moved closer as I moved away, lengthening the kiss.

"Jeez, get a room you guys." Xichen scowled in a joking manner. Zhan rolled his eyes while Jia and I just laughed.

Afterwards, mom moved ahead with her plans and moved into the neighbourhood. She'd come over all the time and hang out with Jia. Mom became great friends with her and Jang. Zhan was tired of the constant parties they'd thrown with their friends. He called them rowdy and annoying old people's parties. He told me they used to do it all the time before I lived here.

Every day has been a blast. We all spent Christmas together as a family, my mom included. I got back into reading when I received many books for Christmas. Having most of my old ones destroyed, kind of took me out of the mood. Zhan and mom picked out some great ones though. I'd spend a lot of time reading while in bed next to Zhan.

We all returned to school after summer break and it's been fun. Our school group got much larger with the addition of Xichen, Cheng, Sarah and their friends along with the people already there being me, Yubin, Ji Li, Cheng number two as I like to call her, Meng.

As the new year rolled around, the time for Cheng, Zhan and their friends to graduate grew closer. When the time finally came, I felt really sad. It was only Xichen, Sarah and I. It made me even sadder knowing that Zhan would go off to college. He didn't see the point to it but his parents pressured him into getting his education for the future. That's one thing they're big on.

With Zhan and Cheng out of the picture, this gives rise to an old problem. Cindy returned. This time, she was even more secretive about her plans than before. She let nothing track back to her. We all knew exactly who was behind the curtains, though. While her antics weren't as extreme as before, we didn't know how to put an end to them. She would've done much more harm, but she was afraid of getting caught.

Zhan eventually had to move away for college. The house felt lonely without him. He came to visit every weekend though, so it wasn't too bad. I tried to spend as much time with him as I could, but I would always feel a tinge of sadness without him near.

It continued like this throughout the year, and eventually I was ready to go to college. Zhan and I both enrolled in different colleges because of limitations, but we both made it our highest priority to stay in touch. Zhan and I would video chat almost every night and we would meet up.

College was strange to me. I was out of my element. Thankfully, there were some friendly faces around. Terra, Chloe and Erik were attending the same college as me. They were the people I met in the park that one Saturday a couple of years back. We had seen little of each other since we went to different schools. They'd invite me to their dorms, and we'd talk for hours. It turns out that Erik's brother Austyn played against our school's football team several times! I hadn't ever noticed, though. If it weren't for Zhan and them, I would've never gotten used to life here.

The year Zhan graduated, he bought a house near the college I was attending, so we could spend more time together. I actually ended up moving in with him, which was a plus for both of us. It was a joy to finally spend every day with the man I love so dearly. All the emptiness and sadness I felt swirling in my stomach disappeared. His morning kisses covered me in warmth. His breakfasts were delicious and his massages were top-notch. The house he bought was really pretty. It was about as large as the cabin we stayed in all those years ago, except the exterior was much nicer. We even ended up getting a cute little puppy! I named him Sean. Zhan just shook his head at my silliness.

After I finished college, we set up a reunion with some of our old friends in our old town. I couldn't contain my excitement while Zhan drove us there. We stopped at Zhan's old house where Jia and Jangs were living. Xichen was already off in college, but he was supposed to be here today. Zhan and I got out of the car and walked up to the door. My eyes widened as the door swung open, revealing a mature Xichen. Even though Zhan and I came home last Christmas, we were both surprised to see how much his appearance had changed.

Jia and Jang were happy to see us. Talking and eating lunch together made it feel like no time had passed at all, like it was just another morning at the Xiaos. My mom and Xiaos were still great friends. The moment mom heard I'd arrived she drove over. She made it just in time for lunch. Today was a sunday so most people had work off which allowed for our visit.

Zhan, Xichen and I drove off to the location where we were meeting. Sandra's diner. We didn't know if she was still in business, but we gave it a try anyway. Surely enough, she was. Sarah was first to arrive, we arrived second, and Cheng arrived last. His parents were still giving him trouble, even despite him being a full-grown adult. We all found that hilarious.

"Holy mother, if I'd known ya'll would'a been comin' I would'a made ya something extra special!" Sandra said in shock.

"It's fine, anything will do!" I giggled.

"No, no." She dismissed.

"It may take a moment but I'll have somethin' fresh out'a the oven, anything of your choice!"

Xichen immediately raised his hand for donuts, with Cheng not long after. Sarah got a burger and Zhan and I settled for her famous apple pie. We had a lot of fun there, talking and joking around. We stayed much longer than we'd planned, but that wasn't a terrible thing at all. Xichen didn't want to leave. He said he still had several ideas to try. He was still hungry even after eating almost half the menu. It surprised us all how much he could eat despite having such a slim body. It almost reminded me of Zhan back then.

After Sandra's, we went out on the town, hopping from location to location. We played games in the arcade like old times; we got our pictures taken, watched a movie, and to top it off, we went for a long drive. The distant lights of the passing buildings, the symmetrical street lights illuminating the highway, and the wall lights stationed throughout the tunnels, it was all so pretty! We drove aimlessly for at least an hour. It was the most fun we'd had in years!

I was surprised when Zhan and I ended up at a familiar place. It was the park we snuck out to during our school trip. Zhan parked on the side of the road and got out of the car, with me following right behind. The others probably thought we were insane, running off into the dark like we did. I waved them over and told them to follow us. The jungle gym that we climbed last time we were here was removed, or replaced rather. Luckily, the new one was much bigger and still had the narrow flat deck on top. Zhan and I raced to the top. This time, I was strong enough to climb all the way. I didn't need Zhan's help like last time. While I managed to make it to the top, Zhan still beat me! He sat with a smug look plastered across his face. I was too out of breath to have a response. I fell over on my back, facing the starry sky as I caught my breath. Soon enough, Xichen, Sarah and Cheng made their way to the top, joining Zhan and me.

"How are you people not out of breath?" I asked between huffs. I was truly puzzled.

"It's surprising how someone as energetic and all over the place as you manages to get winded so easily." Zhan teased.

"Some things never change." Sarah laughed. I pouted at them.

We all lay on our backs watching the beautiful night sky and just goofed around for the rest of the time we spent together. We were back in high school. It still surprises me how my life went from what it was to how it is now. It's been a total whirlwind. Sneaking onto that school trip was the best choice I've ever made. It drastically changed my life. I met Zhan and Cheng, who have become a big part of my life.

Everything else that followed was worth it too. Xichen, Sarah, Sandra, Jia, Jang and even being reunited with my mother. There were several low points where I had my hope broken into several small pieces, but Zhan pulled me from the endless darkness I was lost in, and has filled my life with the brightest of days. He is my hope, my life, and I vow to stay by his side for all days to come.

Later (at home)

"Y'know, I think I'm going to call you teddy." Zhan mumbled to Yibo, half awake.

"Teddy?" Yibo responded, embarrassed.

"Yeah... you're like a little stuffed teddy bear." Zhan said, tightening his hold around Yibo's small frame.

"In that case, I'll call you penguin, or not. Yibo thought, for a moment. ,"How about daddy penguin?!" He added, jokingly.

"D-daddy penguin?" Zhan questioned, his eyes widening in shock. Yibo broke out into laughter, revealing the joke.

"Or I could just call you Sean." Yibo teased, peeking up at Zhan.

"You did not." Zhan shook his head in disapproval with a devious smile crossing his face. Yibo's laughter returned in full force as Zhan's hands landed on his sides. He squirmed under Zhan's touch, trying to break free, though he wasn't able to escape as he was already snuggled up against Zhan. He hid his face in Zhan's chest, trying to muffle his loud laughter. After his punishment, he just lay exhausted against Zhan and drifted off to sleep, Zhan following behind not long after.