Chapter Text
felix was home alone for the first time in a very long while, it didnt help that the dorm was entirely cold either, making felix shiver and snuggle deeper into changbins hoodie to at least try and feel comforted by inhaling the lingering comforting smell of his hyung, which was mostly aftershave but it was something about changbin that brought him to peace.
he was alone, the whole of the group at the studio because he was sick, they'd been avoiding him for a while to prevent themselves from catching whatever he had, throwing up in the middle of the night and having both chan and woojin fuss over him but keeping their distance after settling him back down in bed just in case he had a bug.
so here he was in the kitchen, three in the morning and unable to sleep, making one of woojins herbal teas because he couldnt sleep, he felt like he wanted to cry, the overwhelming feeling of not having anyone around completely messing around with him. It was only a couple of hours ago that the manager said goodbye, leaving for his own home and family to tend to.
stray kids really struck the iron when its hot with this one by leaving the emotional member behind, it wasnt there fault that he was sick and it was for their health, but they left the most affectionate and clingy one behind with no one to tend to him, he was person orientated, felix, he needed to be around someone constantly to feel content, but having no one just plainly sucked and left him cold and feeling empty.
what sucked more is that they couldnt reply to their phones at the time because they were busy with rehearsal, which left him feeling even more sad, jeongin hadnt replied to him and his last conversation was with jisung a few hours ago over text, jisung telling him that theyre all ok and that they miss him jokingly.
felix didnt really know when they were back, for it be in a few hours, tomorrow morning when he eventually wakes up? felix hadnt a clue of when his family were gonna comeback, and he shouldve probably asked before they left but all confidence seeped out of him as chan closed the door to let him sleep.
he finished the tea and grabbed the cup, walking along with padded fluffy socks to the sofa and turning on the tv, which was across the room, fumbling with the controller, felix took a sip of the tea and sighed, he went through all the stations until he found an animation, it took him a second to notice it was finding nemo and it was when they found each other, which really struck the chord in felix' tiny chest and his eyes watered, the fact that he missed everyone and now he was watching an emotional movie didnt help.
"ahhhh" he began, using his free hand to wipe the tears. "this is so stupid" he muttered, he was near the edges of being a grown man yet he was crying because he was alone, but he'd been around the others for the past year constantly, him always having them to lean on, this was the first time they'd left him behind and they were avoiding him which only worsened it.
felix was so caught up in the movie and trying to contain his tears that he didnt hear the door open and shut, and minho creep in quietly with the keys in his hand, in all honesty he would've thought felix was asleep, but he came back to surprise him, the others going to get food for felix seeing they now had a free day, felix now included seeing they'd been avoiding him like the plague for three days by being out of the dorms constantly.
"hi baby" minho cooed gently, watching as felix' head spun around so quick and he nearly dropped his drink, he saw felix' eyes light up at the sight of minho and before felix could do anything at all minho was already climbing on him, picking him up gently and placing felix in his lap and hugging him close and wrapping his arms around felix' frame, he could tell felix was having a hard time by the way he was pilant, probably trying to contain his emotions.
"minnie" he said with a wobbly voice into the boys shoulder, it had been a couple of days since the boy left his arms but he was back now, finally someone was hugging him, and he felt that warmth again.
"baby were you crying?" minho asked pulling away from the hug, giggling cutely at the way felix' bottom lip stuck out and watching him shake his head.
"im gonna act like i wasnt expecting it" minho tutted, teasingly poking felix' shoulder as the younger boy whined softly at the embarrassment of seeing him like this, if it was woojin or changbin it would of been fine, woojin was like a personal assistance bot and changbin was just great at cuddling.
"where are the others?" felix asked quietly, arms encasing around minho and keeping the boy close, he didnt wanna let minho go again, he watched as minho looked at the watch on his arm and his eyebrows furrowed, trying to read the time. felix' eyes caught onto the necklace around his neck, the matching one jeongin had given him and everyone aelse as a present, jeongin himself was also probably wearing it too and freed a hand to fiddle with the pendent a bit, studying the smooth edges closely.
"they should be back soon, they're getting some food because we're free tomorrow, so i guess its just us cuddling you really?" minho said, wiggling his eyebrows because he knew felix liked the idea of that, and he did as he leant back against the sofa, letting felix go free to clamber off his lap and sit by his side, lifting minhos arm and situating himself underneath it and leaning into minho who was more than happy to accept affection right now.
the two sat on the sofa cuddled up like that for a few minutes, felix offering the rest of the tea he made to minho and he watched endearingly as the older boy gulped the rest of it down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand after.
"seungmin and changbin have missed you, we all did but they kept whining about how they couldnt annoy you because you were so ill" minho said suddenly, smiling down at felix who smiled lightly, the corners of his mouth lifting up gently as he remembered that seungmin was his soulmate and changbin was his soft sentimental tormenting bestie who harassed him constantly for kisses and cuddles but looked after him well.
minho was going to continue his sentence but the door rattled and opened and the others clambered through the door, running towards the sofa and minho was quick to dive out the way as one by one the boys all clambered ontop of felix, squishing the soul out of him and completely pushing aside the fact that he was still potentially sick, changbin stood and watched the commotion, laughing with bags in his hand as they all peppered kisses all over felix' face and squished his cheeks, chan took the great pleasure of hurrying everyone off of felix before they broke him, before he himself leant down and wrapped the younger in his arms and kissing the side of his head.
minho made a massive fuss over felix as if he hadnt been doing so already previously, before jisung squished his cheeks together, they all knew he'd missed them and felix' heart was doing happy flips out of content and the warm feeling radiating throughout his body indicated that he was happy his family was home and finally not ignoring him.
they settled after, getting felix' favourite snacks and felix placed himself in minhos lap, who happily wrapped his arms around the younger boy and kissed him gently, connecting their lips, the kiss was warm and minho felt so nice against him, the kiss was short but for felix it felt like forever.
"i dont care if you're sick to be honest" minho said after pulling away for a second, then woojin coughed.
"can you lovebirds save it for later we have kids in here." woojin tutted, covering jeongins eyes jokingly, the couple laughed and felix spun around in minhos lap, facing the tv as the rest of the group gathered close and they watched tv.
"did you miss us lix?" hyunjin said as he poked felix' arm and felix ducked from the touch as it tickled and leant back against minho.
"please dont ignore me again" he said in a small voice, and hyunjin who was watching him pouted and minho rubbed his hand over his stomach in a comforting manner.
"we'll try not too next time love, practice wasnt the same without you anyway" chan finished off the line as he was looking at the group as a whole, felix nodded and focused on the tv whilst munching lightly on the snacks they brought earlier.
felix let out a heavy sigh once comfortable and he reached for minhos hand and took it, interlocking their fingers together and placing it on his stomach, minho pressed a gentle kiss underneath his ear and then onto his cheek and he giggled, inhaling and exhaling heavily he looked around and saw everyone he loved around him, chan was supporting jeongin in his lap and had seungmin on his side, who were probably both asleep after the walk back, woojin was quietly observing on the opposite side of the sofa with hyunjin using his thigh as a pillow, whose legs stretched out and reached changbins thigh, who had jisung sat next to him, jisungs head leaning against changbins shoulder, felix was glad they were home and not ignoring him anymore, they were his family after all and having them all around him was a feeling that never could be beaten.