Delinquent High

Chapter 87

"Lan Zhan, will it really be alright?" asked Wei Wuxian uncertainly. He was still unsure if he would be able to do this.

It has been almost a week from the moment he had begged so desperately for help. He would have never imagined that instead of being thrown out, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen and Lan Yi would actually do their utmost best to make him feel better.

Lan Wangji stayed with him at all times, offering reassurances and comfort whenever Wei Wuxian stumbled into self-doubt or dark thoughts. They cooked together, ate together and either watched movies or read on the couch. It was like a paradise, no school, no fear of being ridiculed or punished. Wei Wuxian would never be able to thank Lan Wangji for his kindness or repay it.

Lan Xichen had sat with him and had cleared up his misunderstanding about being abandoned. As it happened, his adoptive family was still very much waiting for him to come back. Even Madame Yu has been asking almost every day to come to see him so she could apologize for causing him so much pain.

Lan Xichen had gently prompted him to read the messages on his phone and listen to the voice mails. By now, there were hundreds of them, from all the members of his adoptive family: worried and reassuring ones from Jiang Yanli, scolding but secretly loving ones from Jiang Cheng and get well wishes from Uncle Jiang.

Wei Wuxian replied to a few of the most recent messages, feeling overwhelmingly happy and grateful to be accepted back into the family. Or, more precisely, to stop thinking he had been abandoned to his own devices. He was not alone at all, was he?

And, which surprised Wei Wuxian the most, there were actually a handful of messages also from Madame Yu. At first, he had been too afraid to open them, but when he sat in Lan Wangji's lap and had his childhood friend caress his hair and softly hum a melody into his ear, he was able to do it. He had cried the whole night afterwards. For Madame Yu's words this time were not the usual harsh ones. Or any kind of scolding or blaming. They were apologies. It could be felt from the screen that she was sincerely sorry for forcing him to go to the Delinquent High and not acting when she had seen him slowly breaking down.

Wei Wuxian did not reply to any of these messages. He did not know what to do about them in fact. He was confused, and perhaps a little sad as well, that it had taken him breaking completely and the Delinquent High being shut down for Madame Yu to start treating him like a normal person. Like a true member of her family. He stuffed his confusion away to deal with later, he was still feeling too fragile to do anything about it right now.

Lan Yi also did her best in helping him. Just as she had proposed, she was coming to the small house every single day to talk with him. She had explained to him how her therapy worked and reassured him that she would not judge him in any way and if he did not give his explicit consent, she would not say a single word of what he would confide in her to a living soul.

He had been hesitant at first to tell her anything at all. His overwhelming and bubbling emotions were running high wire and his moods were all over the place. To his never-ending shame, he still cried a lot, even because of the simplest things. He did not want to burden her. And, despite all her promises, he had still been afraid that she would condemn him or call the police on him if he told her too much. Not that he admitted this aloud either.

His nervousness only went away when she had suggested that Lan Wangji could sit in on all the encounters and help Wei Wuxian navigate through the storm of his feelings and thoughts. Wei Wuxian accepted this proposition readily and was happy that Lan Wangji sat on the couch next to him and held his hand as he recounted the story of his life at the Delinquent High.

At first, he had only given the high-level succession of events, but Lan Yi's and Lan Wangji's steady presence made him ease up little by little.

Just yesterday, he was able to confide in them how lonely and desperate he had felt when he had been the only one who had been being publicly beaten at all occasions. He was still not completely convinced that he would be able to talk about everything weighing down his heart, about all the ridiculing and his crushing shame and fear, but he trusted Lan Wangji and Lan Yi to be there to support him if he did. Apparently, and surprisingly enough, they did not seem to mind when he broke down in tears after every single session and they had to stitch him back together time and time again.

He did not feel like he was getting any better, if anything, he was even more of a nervous wreck. However, Lan Yi kept insisting that it was all part of the healing process. That he had gone through too much and had not been given proper time to sort out his feelings. She reassured that gradually, he would be able to move from his raw emotions to healthy self-reflection and would not need her and Lan Wangji to convince him that all of this was not his fault.

Wei Wuxian doubted this approach, but he had promised to try so he kept going. After all, he was not alone anymore. Lan Wangji, Lan Yi and Lan Xichen were here for him. He would have never thought that it would be possible, but here he was, burdening them beyond belief and they simply said that they were happy to help. Incredible, miraculous, and so very reassuring.

Despite all of their good will, he was still afraid of upsetting the fragile balance of his current life. Lan Yi insisted that while it was fine to take some time off to sort out his feelings and deal with his fears, he should start thinking about getting more support. That being said, to reach out to his friends and family to retie their broken bonds.

Wei Wuxian had acted on her advice and started chatting with Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng in a group chat. He did not feel strong enough to face them or talk to them directly, so this was the only option. Lan Yi had praised him for his courage but still gently and supportively insisted that he should take another step forward.

That had been when Lan Xichen had proposed that they could invite Mo Xuanyu over. If Wei Wuxian did not feel ready to reconnect with his family, he may feel more at ease with a close friend, one, which had helped him to get out of the hell that had been the Delinquent High. Wei Wuxian had not been so sure himself, but he heeded their advice. He owed Mo Xuanyu his gratitude and his thanks were long overdue.

And so, it came to the day when Lan Xichen promised to bring Mo Xuanyu over after classes. As Wei Wuxian was not currently going to school and had not started with any kind of home-schooling as the chairman of the Cloud Recesses High had suggested in the very beginning, he had unfortunately had the whole day to ponder on the question if he was truly ready to see his saviour or not.

"Will I be alright?" he asked in a whisper when his first question was not answered.

Perhaps it had not been heard as Lan Wangji was currently preparing refreshments in the kitchen and Wei Wuxian has gone to his room to get a sweatshirt. While he was kind of fine being only in his long sleeved T-shirt when the Lans were around, it did not quite apply when he was preparing to meet one of his former classmates. He had yet to tell anyone about this particular fear of his so he had no idea how to better cope with it than putting on more layers so he would hopefully not feel so exposed.

"Wei Ying, everything will be fine. We will be here with you the whole time." Lan Wangji's voice assured from somewhere very close.

Wei Wuxian turned on his heel, slightly surprised. He had not heard his childhood friend leaving the kitchen and coming to fetch him. He must have been too deep in his thoughts. However, hearing Lan Wangji promising more support and help, he instantly calmed down.

"Mn, let us do this," he found his courage again and went to meet Lan Wangji, feeling ready to let another person back into his life. It was good not to be all alone.