Wei Ying waited for a seemingly endless amount of time. He hated waiting anywhere, feeling like he was unable to do anything, he didn't like feeling useless. Waiting in bed feeling ill made him more irate and made the time lag even more. Even though he was in reality was only waiting less than half an hour it seem like hours and hours to Wei Ying. So by the time Lan Zhan walked into the room he was ready to explode, either with temper or with tears. Wei Ying himself wasn't sure which.

As Lan Zhan walked into the room he headed straight for the table in the centre of the room. Without even looking at Wei Ying he sat and poured himself a cup of tea from the pot and took a sip. Wei Ying, who had been just opening his mouth to yell, noticed a level of fragility in his movements. Lan Zhan normally moved with a graceful flow but his movements here seemed stiff and robotic. Also even for Lan Zhan the way he was sitting seemed rigid, which part of Wei Ying's mind admitted he had never thought possible.

'Lan Zhan?' Wei Ying spoke in a quiet tone, almost scared to speak to forcefully in case he damaged fragile looking man. Lan Zhan was normally so strong and powerful, yet here he sat looking like any forceful word might shatter him. Lan Zhan gave him no response so Wei Ying spoke up a little louder.

'Lan Zhan?'

If possible Lan Zhan stiffened where he sat, to the point where Wei Ying winced out of concern for his muscles.

Wei Ying took a deep breath, then another. Sitting up in the bed he turned to face the man who just kept staring into his barely touched tea cup. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed the room began spinning slightly and Wei Ying gripped the bed while he concentrated on stopping the world doing somersaults long enough to do what he needed to. Another coughing fit didn't help matters and at that moment he didn't know if he wanted to shout at Lan Zhan for being an idiot or himself for trying to get up.

Suddenly a cool hand appeared on his shoulder. Steadying him physically while at the same somehow soothing his cough and allowing him to breathe. As soon as he could see properly Wei Ying focused his eyes on the man in front of him. Lan Zhan's eyes where so close to his he couldn't miss the concern clear in them. However as soon as their eyes locked, Lan Zhan lowered both his eyes and hand and shifted to move away once again. Wei Ying though had no intention of allowing this withdrawal. If Lan Zhan wanted to hide from him then he was not going to make it an easy thing to do.

Moving faster than he thought he could at the moment, and possibly faster than he should have done, Wei Ying grabbed hold of Lan Zhan's wrist where a second ago it had been resting on his shoulder. Lan Zhan could have easily broken the hold if he had tried but instead he remained still and passive, eyes lowered towards the floor.

'Lan Zhan look at me!' He tried to make it a command but his voice seemed to disobey.

So did Lan Zhan who's eyes pointedly remained fixed to the floor. Wei Ying bit down his frustration and moved his free hand under Lan Zhan's chin to lift his face upwards closer to his own. Again Lan Zhan was unresisting to the movement but even though his face was level with Wei Ying's his eyes refused to move. Wei Ying's heart was aching from the idea that ever since he had woken up Lan Zhan had been behaving less like the strong Jade of Lan and more like a ceramic doll. Even now Lan Zhan was being so passive, it was almost like something had invaded his body.

'Lan Zhan do I need to hurt myself again to make you look at me?' Lan Zhan's hand twitched under his so Wei Ying knew his he was getting close to the truth. 'Lan Zhan don't push me because you know I will!'

Another wince came from Lan Zhan but he finally obeyed. Wei Ying nearly stopped breathing, the look in the eyes was full of fear and hopelessness, completely unlike the man he has come to know. Getting his heart beating again and forcing oxygen down his already damaged throat, he tightened his hand around Lan Zhan's wrist.

'I let you down…...'Lan Zhan's voice came out almost a whisper, not even try to hide (or unable to) the pain in his voice. 'I broke my promise.'

'Noooo….' Wei Ying tried to respond but Lan Zhan didn't seem to be hearing him.

'You trusted me and I let you be hurt…...I'm just another person to betray you….I understand why you hate me.'

Although Lan XiChen had told him Lan Zhan felt this way, he hadn't actually believed it until this moment. This was the reason Lan Zhan had hardly touched him when he woke up? This was the reason he had walked away from him? The leash he had been holding on his temper finally snapped.

'How can someone as smart as you be such an idiot!'

Lan Zhan's eyes opened wider showing his shock and a short intake of breath made Wei Ying realise he had shouted the last sentence loudly. Looking towards the door for any unwanted visitors, he forcefully pushed down his frustration and spoke a little more levelly.

'You think I hate you?….You think you let me down?…..Lan Zhan your a fool!…..you saved me…...I would have never gotten out of that cave without you helping me. Forget the fire I would have been killed by one of the idiots who thought getting rid of me would make their lives better!...' He paused a moment, he eyes glued to Lan Zhan's making it impossible for either of them to look away. 'You saved my life, you saved the life of all those Wen survivors..…..you have had my back for months even when it meant the possibility of being isolated from your Clan the same way I was from mine….In what way do you think you let me down? Or that I could possibly hate you?'

He paused, taking in shallow breaths. His throat burned in protest from him speaking so much without taking the time to heal but he forced himself not to show it. Instead he reached over to slowly take the cup of water he still had on the bedside table and took a sip. This break allowed not only himself to dowse the flames in his throat but also for Lan Zhan to understand what he had said. At the moment though there was no change on the other man's face, and he was unsure if he would need to smack him over the head to make him understand.

Lan Zhan didn't move physically and his eyes remained fixed on Wei Ying's as he sipped his water a few times before placing the water back on the table. Suddenly he felt a hand grip his hair and spin his head round. The eyes in front of him still held desperation and pain but now held hope and fire, however Wei Ying didn't have much time to try and figure out what the mix of emotions meant before he felt lips touch his. As the kiss deepened Wei Ying soon realised it was filled with the same desperation the eyes had held a moment before. Lan Zhan had been been afraid he would run from him, even worse that he would hate him. Lan Zhan had never been good with words, the physical kiss was his way of proving to himself that Wei Ying was both healthy and not running away.

In reality Wei Ying's throat was already sore from all the talking he had been doing, and when Lan Zhan's tongue invaded his mouth he wasn't gentle. Normally Wei Ying would have rejoiced at having the strong, controlling and decisive Lan Zhan being back but right now it was just too uncomfortable. Also the words Lan XiChen had spoken earlier in the day came back to him uncalled for 'My brother has never felt about any one else the way he does about you. Maybe you can't see it but as his elder brother it is extremely clear to me.' Did Lan Zhan really feel that way about him? Did he feel that way about Lan Zhan?

If he was honest he didn't have the mental capacity to work out the two questions right now, all he knew is no matter how uncomfortable the kiss was for him it was something Lan Zhan needed, if he was honest with himself it was something HE needed. Each time Lan Zhan's tongue licked the inside of his mouth or touched to top of his throat he groaned, luckily his partner took this as encouragement and eventually the rough, harsh, desperate kiss slowed to something more gentle. Eventually both men broke apart and took deep breaths, eyes firmly fixed on each other.

'Sorry' Lan Zhan said.

Wei Ying smiled, placing a palm on on Lan Zhan's chest as he pushed his partner up far enough to put a little space between them, Idly wondering when they ended up on the bed. 'No your not! If you were sorry you wouldn't do it again, and I know you would do that again!'

Lan Zhan just blushed slightly.

'When did you last sleep?' Wei Ying decided now Lan Zhan's insecurities had been solved, for the moment anyway, it was time to focus on something less mentally taxing.

'You have been ill' Lan Zhan was looking down at the floor again as he responded.

'I have been unconscious for days….are you telling me you haven't slept for days?' Wei Ying's voice was rising again in disbelief at the stupidity of this smart man.

No response.

Wei Ying wasn't a fool and knew the best way to get Lan Zhan to do something was to NOT make it about him.

'Ok well I need to rest if I'm going to get better, how about you get some rest as well?'

Lan Zhan nodded and a relieved Wei Ying laid back on the bed, closing his eyes and almost immediately falling into a deep sleep.

Lan XiChen waited for an hour for the two men to speak before returning to his brothers JingShi to see if the two had solved their communication problems. The JingShi was quiet as he entered, seeing no one at the table he frowned. Had Wanji walked out again leaving Wei WuXian to cope on his own? If this was the case he was going to have going to have a strong word with his little brother. Walking around the privacy screen to check on Wei WuXian he had his unspoken question was answered. Both men fast asleep on Wanji's bed, his brothers arms wrapped tightly around Wei Ying who slept nestled on the chest of the other sleeper. It was a testament to how comfortable both men were, and how tired, that neither had awoken when he entered the room. Smiling and feeling a weight lifting of his chest, he left the room as quietly as he had entered.