Letting go of self-restraint 5 - Great happiness in a small package

Chapter 52

Later that same night – it was actually closer to the Gusu Lan sect waking hour than anything, it had taken a while for the emotions to calm down –, when the search had already been called off and everyone went to sleep completely exhausted, Lan Xichen and Nie Huisang were sitting at a low table in their room and having tea. They were still way too awake to be able to sleep, their emotions and thoughts were not letting them get a good rest. And neither was the persistent guilt gnawing at their insides.

In the end, Lan Xichen put his tea cup down and looked at the Qinghe Nie sect heir seriously: "A-Sang, I know that everything was fine in the end but I still cannot forgive myself despite Wuxian's words. I fell like this has happened because we have been too eager and have not kept properly to our duties. We should reconsider what to do in the future."

The endearing addressing they had started using to support each other in their emotional state several hours ago somehow felt just right. Lan Xichen was not ready to go back to using only Nie Huisang's courtesy name, or even worse, to call him politely as if they were strangers. It looked like The Qinghe Nie sect heir did not have complaints either because he used the same level of familiarity and endearment as Lan Xichen just had.

Nie Huisang's face went completely blank and he suddenly looked very young and vulnerable: "A-Chen, do not tell me... you want us to break up and never see each other again? I am sorry that I pushed you like that and tried to seduce you. But you cannot..."

"No!" immediately interrupted him Lan Xichen. He was horrified by even the idea of never seeing his lover again. He was wondering how the Qinghe Nie sect heir had reached such a conclusion. "Of course not! That is not what I wanted to say."

Lan Xichen schooled his expression again, calming himself down with several deep breaths: "I wanted to say that this happened because of our too strong desire to be together and because we only have limited time each visit. We were too eager and I will repent on it later. It was all because we keep our relationship a secret and would not tell Mingjue about it.

What I want to suggest is to tell your brother and my uncle and ask for their blessing. Our union may not be a standard one, perhaps even strange to some, but I know we can make it happen. I may be selfish but I have fallen head over heels for you a long time ago and Lans only love once."

Lan Xichen stood up and then got on one knee. He chuckled and thought to himself: "This is not exactly how I imagined this..."

"What I want to offer to you is my whole heart and the place at my side for all eternity. A-Sang, will you marry me?"

Lan Xichen did not dare to look up at his lover in fear of his reaction to the proposal. They had talked about this in the past, but it was something different to weight the pros and cons of a possibility of marriage and to outright propose. The Gusu Lan sect leader was sure he would hear it from both Nie Mingjue and his own uncle how he should have waited and followed the proper steps, how he should have first offered engagement and only propose after a long courting period, just as was appropriate for a sect leader of his standing. However, in his and Nie Huisang's case, he believed that they were already way beyond simple courting.

"A-Chen, do you really mean it?" asked the Qinghe Nie sect heir a little incredulously. It should have not come as a surprise, he must have not thought Lan Xichen would act on his feelings any time soon, especially not after something terrible had almost happened because of their overindulgence.

Lan Xichen lifted his head and looked at his lover and soon to be husband: "Yes, A-Sang, if you will agree, I would like to properly announce our relationship to everyone and take you as my one and only husband in this life time."

Nie Huisang sprang from his seat as if he had not been waiting for anything else but this. He joined Lan Xichen in his kneeling position and started kissing his fiercely. The Gusu Lan sect leader was only too happy to reciprocate the affection.

"Yes, A-Chen, yes!" he was repeating in between the heated kisses.

Lan Xichen felt like he had just landed on cloud nine and was not going back to earth anytime soon. He was not sure that there was any way to measure and compare happiness, but he thought that there could not be anyone luckier in this word than him right now. He leaned closer and gave Nie Huisang another deep kiss, starting thus a whole new series of them.

"Thank you, A-Sang, thank you. I will make sure to make you the happiest and most spoiled Omega of all times." "Competing with Lan Wangji could be a good challenge to start," Lan Xichen thought.

They have been so lost in their happiness of finally expressing their feelings openly that they had not noticed a door opening and someone coming inside the room. They jumped up shocked by the thundering angry voice sounding not too far away from where they had been showing their love to each other a second ago.

"Huisang, what is all this supposed to mean? I send you here to help Wei Wuxian recover from his past trauma and I find you like this? I rushed here after hearing that someone have used the Gusu Lan sect signal flare and..."

Lan Xichen's and Nie Huisang's heads whipped in the direction of the intruder only to see a very angry looking Nie Mingjue towering over them. The Gusu Lan sect leader's heart almost jumped out of his chest as he sprang to his feet, his cheeks burning red. His hand however never let go of Nie Huisang's, they were going to do this together. Although he would have preferred another setting to inform his lover's brother about their relationship, it could not be quite helped anymore.

Faced with their clear embarrassment, Nie Mingjue continued his tirade: "And what about A-Sang and A-Chen as I heard right now? Have you perhaps forgotten to tell me something?"

Lan Xichen stared in utter bewilderment at the mountain of a man in front of him. Despite all the odds, Nie Mingjue looked like he was nothing else but pleased. His expression turned from anger into anticipation and fondness in a single motion. It was very surprising.

Lan Xichen stepped forward and squeezed Nie Huisang's hand for comfort and encouragement. He was a sect leader and he was going to act like one. He would not run away from this. "Mingjue, I would like to marry A-Sang."

Nie Mingjue's face softened even more, a curious sight really as the Gusu Lan sect leader could not remember any instance when the fierce man's smile would be directed his way despite them being close friends for years.

"Finally, it took you long enough, Xichen. I know you will take good care of my brother. And if not," back to the hearty threatening then, "be sure that I will come to find you wherever you will try to run."

And that somehow seemed to have been it. No more shouting, no more threats, just a single wish of happiness for them both and then Nie Mingjue excused himself and closed the door on his way. They heard him muttering from the other side: "They should have told me sooner, it was not as if they could hide it all that well. But now I have to hurry with the preparations for the wedding, I did not expect them to move this quickly..."

Lan Xichen was staring at the door for a long while, the same as Nie Huisang. "Well, that went well, I guess?" the Qinghe Nie sect heir laughed with relief, "all that is left is to tell Lan Qiren and pick up a date for the ceremony."

Lan Xichen nodded numbly, still shocked that what he had been fearing for almost three years was in the end nothing terrible. He should have proposed sooner and he would have had Nie Huisang as his husband already. Not that he was regretting anything, they were taking slow steps and it was fine. Not everyone had to rush into marriage like some love-stuck idiots he knew.

Happy ending at last! I hope you have enjoyed this roller coaster of the story. Thank you for reading and commenting, it keeps me motivated to know that someone supports the story :)

In this part of the series, I have tried to merge three main plots: Nie Huisang and Lan Xichen getting together, the joys and challenges of parenting and Wei Wuxian's recovery from past abortion and trauma. I hope it was not too heavy and you were able to find in it what you had expected and wished for.

In the future, I still plan to finish this series with a story about the reconstruction of the Lotus Pier and how the pairing of Jiang Cheng and Wen Ning works. I have also the idea that it would be nice to have a short Lan Qiren story with little A-Yuan, let me see about that.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the story and if you feel like it, I would be happy to hear what you thought about it :)