"She actually forbade you from seeing me?" The Chinese gasped, watching his man with wide eyes.

Yuta nodded.

Right after his mother had told him those words, she refused to let him leave. So once it was night, he had gone up to his room and escaped through the window, fleeing to Sicheng's house.

"But why?" The younger frowned, quite shocked at the news.

"Some insecurity of hers about how all the old rich women will judge her on how disobedient and out of control her son is." He shrugged, taking Sicheng's hand. "She says you're a bad example, and she won't listen to anything I say."

"I swear Yuta, if I ever see your mother I'm going to-" Sicheng's mom said, slamming a plate of cookies on the table.

The older woman took a deep breath, clenching her fists. "She better watch out, that's all I'm saying."

The Chinese gave his mother a look before turning back to his boyfriend. "So what will she do if she catches you?"

Yuta shrugged. "Some threat about sending me to some other school. I don't know, I'm not really worried."

"Not worried?" Sicheng eyed the boy in disbelief. "What are you going to say when she finds out you jumped out your window and came here?"

The Japanese was about to respond when the older woman spoke up again.

"It's a good thing I allow fugitives in my house." She gave Yuta a comforting smile. "You can stay here for as long as you want."

The boy clapped his hands together with a huge grin. "Yes! I would love to-" He stopped, remembering the younger next to him. "If you're ok with that. If not, I'll go back."

Sicheng nodded, giggling as he held the boy's hand tighter. "If I means I get to spend more time with you, of course you can stay."

"Then it's settled." The mother said. "You can borrow some of Sicheng's clothes, you're about the same size anyway." She gave them a look. "Do I need to make up the couch for you to sleep on, or can I trust you'll find a place?"

Her son laughed, hugging his boyfriend. "He can stay with me."

She smiled at the two, the affection and love clear on her face. "That's what I thought." Glancing at the clock on the wall, she gasped. "My heavens! Is it already that late? You two have school tomorrow!"

Seeing that the woman was right, and they were awake much later than they should be, they sighed, and made their way upstairs. But before they could get too far, Sicheng's mother stopped them, pulling them both into a warm embrace. "I'm so glad you're staying here with us, Yuta."

The Japanese smiled, returning the hug. "Me too."

Sicheng was squished between the two, and needing to breathe, decided to break it up. "Alright! Let's go! We're not going to be able to wake up tomorrow!"

The woman rolled her eyes at her son's drama, but let them go. "Goodnight, boys."

The Chinese gave his mom one more hug, before following Yuta upstairs.

The older boy immediately laid on the bed, exhausted from the interaction he had with his parents. Sicheng snickered at the Japanese, before throwing a t-shirt and shorts at his head.

"Those look like they'll fit you." He laughed, watching the startled man.

"Rude." Yuta pouted, grabbing the pile of clothes from off his face. He was about to strip right there, but Sicheng quickly stopped him.

"There's a bathroom down the hall you can use to change." He waved in the general direction of the room. "Go!"

The older stood up with a frown, grumbling about something on the way down the hall. "Fine. I thought you loved me."

Sicheng only smiled, cleaning up his room a little while the Japanese was gone.

It didn't take Yuta too long to get changed, and when he came back, the younger was already laying down, his eyes closed.

"Remember," Sicheng said as the older boy switched off the light and made his way towards the bed. "You stay on your side of the bed, no crossing over to mine."

The Japanese chuckled, laying back on his pillow. "I'm not the one in this relationship that you should be worried about breaking that rule."

_____________________

A loud crash from downstairs caused Yuta to suddenly jolt awake. He forgot about the sound just for a second as he noticed the still sleeping boy right next to him.

Sicheng was snuggled close with his arms around the older. They were most definitely on Yuta's side of the bed, and the Japanese was tempted to wake the younger up and tease him about it, but decided it would be best not to. It would remain his secret for now.

With a sigh, he detatched the Chinese from him, and rolled him back to the other side of the bed. As quietly as he could, he crawled off the bed, deciding to investigate the noise.

He tip-toed down the stairs, looking for any clumsy intruder, but he found none.

Seeing that the kitchen lights were on, he looked inside the room and smiled. "What are you still doing up?"

The woman at the stove practically jumped 10 feet in the air at the sound of a voice. "Ack! Oh, Yuta it's just you."

She laughed, gesturing for him to take a seat. "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to get a snack." Realizing something, she frowned. "Did I wake you up? I dropped a pan and it was quite loud."

"It's ok, I was already awake." He lied, taking a seat at the counter.

She nodded, and looked to the kettle boiling on the stove. "Do you want some tea? Hot chocolate?"

Yuta could not turn down that offer. "Hot cocoa sounds amazing."

The older woman turned, taking a mug out of a cupboard. She poured in the boiling liquid, and stirred in the powder before handing it to the man. "Want some cookies with that?"

"Please, you're spoiling me, I'll never want to go back to my house!" He exclaimed, smiling as she grabbed a container of the cookies she had made earlier that day.

"Good!" She cheered, dipping a tea bag in her own hot glass, and taking the seat across from him. "I want you to stay here forever."

They sat in silence for a minute, enjoying the goodies in front of them before Yuta decided to speak. "I thought for sure you would be against me staying here. I figured you would make me talk it out with my mom."

Sicheng's mother sighed, taking a sip from her mug. "I know I should be responsible and tell you to go back, and if you were any other person, I would have already. But you're different."

The boy's head tilted a bit in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well," She whispered, setting her drink on the table. "It's because of little things that I guess only a mother could see. I knew you two were together even before I caught you here that morning." She smiled, remembering the specific day. "I knew because I saw it in Sicheng. I could see he was different, much happier than usual, and I love seeing my baby like that!"

She gave the boy a smile. "I know I should have been mad when I found a boy in my son's bed, but somehow I wasn't. I knew that you were the reason Sicheng was more like himself."

Yuta chuckled, biting one of the soft chocolate chip cookies. "I thought I was going to die that morning, for sure."

She laughed, patting the boy's hand. "No, that was never my intention." She suddenly got serious, looking straight at the Japanese. "Please know this, Yuta. As long as Sicheng will have you, you are welcome in my home any time. Even in 20 years, if you need somewhere to spend the night, or hide from your controlling mother, my doors are open."

"Thank you." The man said, patting the other's small hand. He suddenly frowned, his eyes showing stress. "I would never tell Sicheng, but I'm terribly worried about how this is going to go with my mother."

The older woman looked at the anxious male in pity. "What is her problem anyway? Sicheng isn't a bad kid, and neither are you!"

Yuta shook his head. "Thank you! I tried to tell her that but she was too stubborn to listen." He sighed, his hands running through his hair.

"You have to know something about my mother to understand what her deal is. She prides herself on the fact that we live in the giant mansion part of town. That woman basks in the glory of fine dining, fancy jewelry, servants, and society friends." He frowned, picturing the expensive lady in his head.

"She never does anything for herself, it's always so that people will think better of her. Especially the old rich widows she surrounds herself with." Yuta paused, but seeing that his boyfriend's mother was still listening, he continued.

"Her and my father had pretty much my whole life planned out. I was going to get a high paying job at the family company, marry the daughter of a family friend, and live in a mansion just a few doors down from my parents." He suddenly smiled. "But then I became obsessed with your son."

She gave Yuta a proud look. "Obsessed, huh?"

"That's an understatement." He smirked, crossing his arms across his chest.

He remembered something, and went back to being serious. "I know I should listen to them and break it off with Sicheng, because they are my parents, but I don't care. They may be intimidating with their power and money, but I'm not scared."

"I'm going to fight for Sicheng." He whispered, smiling at the words he spoke. "I'm going to fight for us."