The next morning, Jiang Cheng woke up with the headache. That was the first thing he noticed.
The second was a warm fuzzy feeling inside his stomach.
Third was someone's arms around him.
Only then did Jiang Cheng realise that he was snuggled close to a still asleep Lan Xichen.
Lan Xichen didn't have his outer robe on.
Outside the room, several birds woke up at once, crying out in surprise and flying away. A whipping sound had woken them up, followed closely by a slight cry of pain, which was further followed by Jiang Cheng's angry shouting.
Lan Xichen woke up on the floor of the room with a killing ache in his arm. He'd barely even woken up properly when Jiang Cheng's livid voice pierced through his ears.
"How dare you!" Jiang Cheng screamed. "Cultivators and civilians alike give the example of Gusu Lan Sect's morals, and here the heir to being the Sect Leader has raped another man!"
Lan Xichen's heart stopped.
What?! Raped?! He thought.
"It is said that the Twin Jades of Lan are statues made of nothing but politeness, yet here I find myself-!" Jiang Cheng was cut off by Xichen, who stood up and walked to him.
Jiang Cheng immediately shuffled backwards on the bed, Zidian sparkling around his finger, ready to lash out.
"A-Cheng..." Xichen murmured in confusion. "Do you not... remember anything?"
Jiang Cheng's eyes widened at what the other called him.
"H-how dare you!" He spluttered in anger. "I never thought you would sink this low, Young Master Lan."
With that, Jiang Cheng stormed out of the room, not giving Xichen a chance to apologise.
.
.
.
After that incident, Lan Xichen didn't see Jiang Cheng for a whole month. Wei Wuxian told him the other had flown all the way to Yunmeng on his sword, and he refused to tell anyone why he was leaving. Even Wei Wuxian seemed confused on what had happened.
This morning, Xichen felt he'd had enough. He wrote a note for Wangji, instructing the other to take care of all the students and elders of Lan Sect, and left. He flew for six hours before taking shelter at a tavern by the name of 'Purple Anger'.
The name reminded him of his A-Cheng.
Xichen decided to stay the night there. While was has entering his room, however, a servant came and bowed to him respectfully.
"We apologise, respected cultivator, but this whole place has just been booked for this night. We're afraid we can't let you spend the night here."
Xichen smiled. "It's alright."
The servant looked relieved. "Thank you, sir! In exchange, can I recommend you the 'Light of the Star', another tavern nearby?"
As Xichen stepped down a staircase, headed to the main hall with the servant by his side, his curiosity piqued up.
"By the way, who had booked this place?" He asked the servant.
"Oh, he's a respected cultivator sir, an heir to a Sect. You know him, perhaps. Young Master Jiang Wanyin of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect."
Lan Xichen's heart stopped.
This is indeed going to be interesting night, He thought.
.
.
.
Jiang Cheng sighed, alone in the room he'd booked. His mind hadn't really been on things ever since he's left Gusu for obvious reasons. Jiang Cheng stared in the mirror on the table in his room.
I'm not even handsome or anything. Why does even he love me back? He couldn't help but think.
Just then, there was a slight creak from behind Jiang Cheng, and he whipped around. The sight that met his eyes stopped his heart.
Lan Xichen. Perched on top of his window sill. Smiling at him.
Despite the mischievous activity, the smile on his face and his posture were graceful and elegant as ever. He slowly stepped down into Jiang Cheng's room.
Jiang Cheng stood frozen by his table, still trying to process what was happening.
"A-Cheng. No," Lan Xichen said. "Young Master Jiang. I know it is improper of me to trespass your room like this. But do give me a second to explain myself. I just want to tell you want happened that night in Gusu-"
"I know." Jiang Cheng cut him off, his teeth gritted and his eyes on the floor.
"It's a misunderstanding, Young Master Jiang. We didn't-"
"I know!" Jiang Cheng cut across again, his ears turning red. "I remember what happened when I was drunk! I remember calling you mine! I remember you pushing me away so that I didn't do anything! I remember."
As he said the last word, Jiang Cheng finally looked Lan Xichen in the eyes.
There was silence.
"Then... why?" Lan Xichen whispered a few minutes later.
"Because when I woke up, I couldn't remember even a fraction of what I did! I thought you'd forced me! I do love you, but that made my heart break! By the time I remembered, I was already half-way back to Yunmeng, and way too embarrassed to turn around or contact you!" Jiang Cheng shouted in one breath.
Lan Xichen just stared at Jiang Cheng, who turned redder and redder by the moment.
"A-Cheng..." He whispered.
Jiang Cheng turned away from him, face burning. Xichen hugged him from behind.
"It's alright." Xichen whispered, placing a light kiss on the other's neck. "It's okay. Don't worry."
They stood like that for a long time before Jiang Cheng turned around to face the other, still in his embrace.
"I'm sorry. You've suffered because of me." He said.
"It's fine. I'm happy you remember." The other replied. "But A-Cheng, there is one thing I want you to promise me.
"What?"
"When you were intoxicated, you said you could never show your true emotions to anyone." Xichen said softly. "Promise me that one day you will show them to me. It doesn't have to be today or tomorrow or the day after that. Take your time. But I wish to see the real you. Can you promise me that?"
Jiang Cheng only nodded.
"Very well then." Xichen let go of the other. "Now, how about you have a look at my arm, the injury from Zidian?"
Jiang Cheng flushed darker, and just when he was about to yell in pretend anger, the other pouted.
"Please?" Xichen raised his eyebrows.
"Are you a kid or what?" Jiang Cheng said loudly. "Come here."
Jiang Cheng was annoyed. But even more than that, he was in love.
[A/N: FIN! Finally! Also, you might notice that the last line of this oneshot is very similar to the first line of Pt. 1.]
