An Almost Lan

Chapter 36

A/N: AU and OOC, just a reminder.

Thank you for your votes and comments, they really encourage me!

Thanks to @CALActorsTypist on Twitter for editing this, remaining errors are all mine.

Graduation day arrived in what seemed like the blink of an eye for Lan Zhan. Wei Ying was a jittering mess making his way through a sea of people. He was about to start elbowing his way through an uncooperative crowd, when he remembered why he was there and why it was important to be on his best behavior. He would not put a stain on the Lan family's reputation. He would just not do that.

If everything went right, one day in the near future he would become a Lan, and he was fully intent on making the Lan family proud, or at the very least not ashamed. The mere thought of sharing the Lan family name with Uncle Qiren gave him a warm feeling in his heart. However, thinking about the same thing, sharing the Lan name with Lan Zhan made him hot all over his body for very different reasons, of course.

It had not been easy. When Uncle Qiren had suggested to take some time apart from each other he was ready to rebel, but it was obvious Lan Zhan would comply to whatever condition that would allow them to be together without breaking their family. It was reasonable, but it didn't make it less hurtful, Wei Ying thought.

They talked it over this time, they thought it through. Lan Zhan offered to be the one moving out of the house, and he, of course, protested. However, once Lan Zhan explained his reasoning it made sense. He also was secretly glad to stay at home since it meant staying close to his aunt and uncle, to his best friend and also to Suibian.

After he had returned home, he had gone back to train with Suibian again,but his horse was too old for a jumping horse standard. His friend Xue Yang gave him a tremendous black thoroughbred Chenqing. He had competed again with his new horse and he had been very successful in the show jumping competition circuit. It had always been his passion and he was utmost grateful to Lan Zhan for offering to transfer instead of him.

During their time apart, they kept in touch talking and messaging at all times. Video calls were of course a must. They shared thoughts and feelings freely, but they both were touch starved. It took time, but at some point hormones overtook whatever good intention they had and some uncertain attempts of physical auto-exploration with the other one watching happened.

It was not a common occurrence, but it happened. They, however, didn't favor the practice because it left them very frustrated and unfulfilled. But Wei Ying expected to leave that frustration in the past. Not immediately, but he was always hungry for Lan Zhan's touch. A mere caress was enough for now, but he needed to be physically near his love.

As for the dating other people part of his uncle's suggestion, it had been actually Xue Yang's idea to use a dating app. His logic was twisted at best, but in the end it helped both of them to make new friends. Of course, not everyone took it lightly and became friends with them, but the few of them that did were now some of their closest friends.

In Lan Zhan's absence, he took refuge in Xue Yang and his close circle. Jiang Cheng was away as A-Li and A-Huan who were also away from home. Wen Qing and Wen Ning became very good friends with him. Jiang Cheng still took time to mentor Wen Ning in archery whenever he was in town. An unexpected byproduct of that was that Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing became close. He witnessed the birth of a spark of attraction between them. He was expecting the news of their romantic relationship anytime soon.

But now, Lan Zhan's graduation finally arrived. The whole family was there for him. They all knew they were not completely healed. Jiang Cheng still eyed Lan Zhan with some distrust, but at least they were civil to each other now. Lan Huan and Juang Yanli apologized to Lan Zhan for misjudging him. They started taking baby steps towards repairing their relationship. Lan Zhan's relationship with them was frankly on the mend and that gave Wei Ying some peace of mind.