authors notes// Sorry it took me a few weeks to update, I never thought people actually cared about this fic ;-; But guess what?

This is the last chapter! Will you get a happy ending with Zitao? Idk, I guess you'll have to wait and see u w u

I listened to 'Beautiful' by BTS when I wrote this. I suggest listening to it when you read this, it sets the mood. Thank you guys so much for sticking through with this poor excuse of a fan fiction :,-) ily all so much.

I'll be uploading some new fanfics I've been writing soon~

Your POV

ー

You paused momentarily, not quite meeting Tao's eyes.

"But," you started, not knowing how to finish your sentence. "But didn't you love me before," you whispered, "the accident?"

You met his eyes this time, staring up into the dark brown abyss in which your small face faintly reflected. You envisioned it all in that very moment. Going on dates, buying each other gifts, sharing small "I love you's" and hugs from behind. You wanted that. You wanted Tao.

"After the accident, I was told I would never see you again. I was told to forget you ever existed. Of course I couldn't, I thought about you everydayー I still do. Slowly I tried to forget the feelings that swelled up in my chest every time I saw your photo. And with forgetting those feelings, I started to forget how your voice sounded.

"But when I sat down on that plane and turned, I saw you. I recognised you and my heart stopped. I knew it was you and I knew I had the chance to be with you again, whether I had to start all over again from the beginning or not. So I took that chance."

You felt something warm drip from your eyes, but you didn't care. You didn't care about the people staring, or the people shouting,

or the two bright headlights coming towards you at an alarming pace.

ー

Tao's POV

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"Kris-ge, what am I supposed to do?" I whined, tossing a jacket across the room and onto my bed, plopping down beside Yifan and sighing.

"Are you telling me you've forgotten how to express your feelings for her?" Yifan raised an eyebrow, setting down his book and lowering his glasses.

"That's not necessarily it, I just." I sighed, hugging a pillow and staring at my feet. "I still can't believe that we found her, that she's here. Do you have any idea on how much of a miracle this has been?"

"I'm a firm believer in fate and destiny," Yifan began, twirling a snapback around his left index finger. "I also believe in true love."

"You're being a bit too feminine about this." I said, tapping his knee.

"Ah, right, that's your job." he retorted, rubbing my head and sitting upright.

"Anyways, why don't you take her on a date like you promised?"

I fidgeted with my sleeve. "Because I have the strangest feeling, that something bad will happen."

Yifan closed his book and took off his glasses, setting them on the nightstand beside him and resting a firm hand on my shoulder. "Nothing bad will happen to you two. If its being robbed that you're worried about, stay in the city. Stay away from traffic. Don't go downtown at night without the rest of us though. You'll be fine, okay?"

"Okay." I said, lifting my shoulders and climbing off of the bed.

"Now, go pick out a hot outfit!" came from an overly-enthusiastic Yifan, as his palm slapped the cheeks I preferred he didn't touch.

ー

"[y/n], move!"

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't hear, I couldn't see. Where am I? What was going on?

The last thing I remembered was being with her, the girl I loved.

What was her name?

I could only remember her face. Her beautiful hair, her brilliant eyes, her small figure. But her name, I could not remember, almost as if it was too fragile and would break if the syllables so much as even rolled off of my tongue.

From far away, I could hear countless beeping noises and static in my mind. If I tried to focus, I could hear it more clearly then. I struggled to open my eyes, which felt like plying concrete with bare hands. But eventually, I was able to be greeted by a bright flash of light as my eyes adjusted. I could hear more clearly now, and my head throbbed and my body ached.

"Tao!" Sehun cried, clasping my hand, which was a little too sore for Sehun's excitement.

My eyes slowly grazed the worried-sick faces of eleven other men, all of their eyes red and puffy with tears. My eyes lastly fell upon a small, round face who stood next to Yifan. She had a small bandage over her cheek and her tights were slightly torn, but she was okay as far as I could tell. I recognised her from somewhere, I knew her face and I knew the feeling of holding her body up against me and in my arms. But her name was foreign to me.

She stared into my eyes, searching for answers. But as I blankly stared back, all she could do was mouth a small 'excuse me' before she rather hastily exited the room. Yifan trailed after her, concern flooding him.

I had a strong feeling, a passionate feeling of instinct, to chase after her and grab her by her shoulders. As I sat up, I painfully remembered that I was restrained by countless tubes and needles. I grit my teeth, contorting my face as I ripped the IV from my wrist and lowered one leg to the floor.

"Zitao, stop! What are you doing?!" Chanyeol gasped as he grabbed my arm. The other members looked at me, their mouths wide open. I shoved Chanyeol away from me, using my strength and standing up right. Adrenaline temoprarily replaced the excruciating throbbing I had felt previously as I half jogged, half limped to the door. I pushed it open, searching left and right. I walked to the right of the hall and slipped down the corridor, ignoring the sounds of monitors and machinery going off in the hospital room I had been placed in.

I found a small lobby, where Yifan stood in front of a sobbing girl, hugging her and telling her it was going to be okay. Jealousy shook through me as I watched him kiss the top of her hair and rub her back.

I squinted my eyes as I tried to recall her name, hoping for a miracle, a small form of realisation and memory slowly coming back to me.

And then I remembered. I remembered writing the notes, the birthday cards, saying it so many times that it had been permanently etched into my soulー she was a part of me.

"[y/n]," I said, hushed and ragged at first as my throat was dry and lacked reverberation. Yifan turned around to face me, absolutely shocked that I had been standing there when I should have been in an uncomfortable hospital bed, hooked up to countless machines that potentially were to keep me alive.

"[y/n]." I said, this time louder, more clearly, and confidently. The girl who had shrivelled into Yifan's arms pulled away just as quickly, exasperated that I was standing there.

I may not have been able to recall everything about her, like her favourite food and colour. But I do remember the way her perfume smelled, the way she smiled when I told her she was beautiful, the way she laughed when I made a lame joke, the way she whispered as if not to wake everyone else who as asleep, and the way she said 'I love you', as if it were something she meant only being said to me.

"You remembered," she whispered, knees trembling and hands shaking. "You remembered."

She walked towards me slowly, and with each step her pace quickened, until she gently flung her arms around me and began crying into my shoulder, dampening the thin hospital gown.

"I thought I had lost you forever, like how you thought you'd lost me so long ago." she said, pausing briefly in between each word as she cried even harder than before.

What I hadn't said, was that I thought I had lost her. Waking up to cold bedsides and the craving for something else besides friendship, dreading being alone as I had these past few years and desperately wanting to place my lips on hers again.

When I opened my eyes again and looked forward, Yifan stood, a small smile placed on his pale face and tears welled in his eyes. His smile grew even larger when my eyes met his, because he knewー we knewー that the love I share with [y/n] would be infinite, and that it was our destiny, our fate, to be together.

ーーー

Your POV

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It had all happened so quickly, in such a blur you yourself had no idea what exactly happened. You remember waking up in Zitao's mangled and weak arms, being dragged away and separated into another ambulance. His eyes had still not opened, and you thought he was gone. Time fast forwarded to the moment you stood in the small, dim lobby, turning around to a boy in search of something he loved. You closed your eyes, and when you had opened them again, you found yourself walking down an aisle, Yifan leading you to a softhearted man you had always thought reminded you of a panda. A boy you had fallen in love with twice.

You closed your eyes again, and reopened them. You recognised the space around you as the apartment you lived in with Zitao, toys that belonged to two devious toddlers resting in a basket on a black coffee table.

"Jungkook, Jimin, listen to your dad," Zitao said sternly, raising a finger and kneeling down. "I want you to clean up the mess you've both made, and if you do a good job, we can go get some ice cream. Deal?"

Jimin's smile widened and Jungkook scrambled for their bedroom as they raced to see who'd clean up the fastest.

Zitao always joked that your two sons would be a part of the next big group, in which Jungkook and Jimin would respond by wiggling their small bodies and attempting to dance and sing, running about the large suite.

You and Zitao were undeniably happy. Perfectly content with your home and family, this is the life you admired. EXO had been long split, but occasionally, Luhan, Sehun, Jongdae, Minseok, Yifan, Joonmyun, Baekhyun, Yixing, Kyungsoo, Jongin, and Chanyeol all never failed to pay multiple visits.

You smiled, placing a kiss on Zitao's cheek and sighing comfortably as Jungkook and Jimin raced down the hallway, back to you and your husband, tugging at your pant leg to come with them for ice cream.

And in the corner of the living room, on a small black table, sat a small black photo album, full of letters and photographs in a timeline sequence, gifted to you by Zitao and the rest of your small family of twelve, not including the two most recent members. Beside it, sat a bigger, newer black photo album.

Labeled on the front in small Chinese print read, "For the many more memories to come."