"Suho!" Scattered hollars came from the few doorways but no one came to D.O's rescue. Suho's fist went pumbling to D.O's already wounded back having the smaller curl in fear. Out of instict Chanyeol shoved Suho's body far away from his other. Suho flew to the far end of the hallway landing infront of Kris' feet. He was not wearing a very happy expression from what he was just witnessing. As fast as he could Chanyeol picked up D.O drapping the semi-concious boy's arm around his neck and leading him into the room Baekhyun and him shared. Chanyeol carefully laid D.O back onto his bed minding all his bruises.
"Baek, can you grab some ice? He's really hot." Chanyeol said urgently taking note of D.O's body temperature. Baekhyun didn't have to be asked twice before pushing past the gawking group surrounding the enterance of their doorway. It was only a matter of seconds that Baekhyun re-entered with a several ice packs. Concerndly Baekhyun swept the hair stuck on D.O's sweaty forehead up and took his time menuvering the ice pack in it's place. D.O's exhausted expression winced at the sudden shock of cold but initially relaxed once getting used to it.

Chanyeol jumped off the bed storming towards the door. "Chanyeol, where are you going?" Chanyeol didn't look back at Baekhyun calling after him,
"Where do you think?!" He practically screamed in his rage making everyone back three feet from the door. He stopped in the middle of the frame scanning everyone's faces. "Where is he?" Chanyeol spat scaring everyone around the side circle.
"Kris-ge is talking to him," Tao piped up from behind the crowd. Chanyeol darted straight for the door pounding his fist against it.
"Kris let me at him! I'll show him for touching someone like that!" Chanyeol was denting the door with a steady rhythm. Unexpectedly Kris let the door open and Chanyeol almost hit his shoulder thinking it was the door.
"Chanyeol-" Kris held his hands to Chanyeol's shoulders trying to hold him back from Suho who was standing dead center in the room. But Chanyeol was at the peek of his convultion he plumetted at Suho's small body knocking him over.

"Who gives you the right to touch him like that?!" Chanyeol screamed. He didn't wait for a response before screaming some more, "He may put up with you, but as long as I'm around you won't touch him! You're bigger than him, how would you like it if someone bigger than you hit you every night? Say me?!" Chanyeol grabbed a large fist of Suho's shirt pulling him off the ground and holding his fist exactly how Suho had when going to hit D.O. Suho looked up at Chanyeol with big battered brown eyes. It was terrifying from Suho's point of view to see someone who was so gentle and happy turn so angry. Suho turned his face and closed his eyes waiting from the inpact. Before Kris, or Baekhyun, or anyone else could stop Chanyeol from making one of the biggest mistakes of his life; Minsoo folded one hand over Chanyeol's broad shoulder and her other on his fist.
She went on her toes to whisper in Chanyeol's ear, "Look at him Chanyeol. This is exactly how he saw D.O. He let his emotions get the best of him, you aren't like that." There was something soothing about Minsoo's voice. It drained every last urge that Chanyeol had built to follow through and hit Suho away. "Baekhyun needs to know there's no chance he will get hurt with you and if you do this now you blow all his confidence away." Chanyeol's eyes zapped towards the door catching glimpse of a horror struck Baekhyun. "Are you really going to do the same thing to Suho that he did to D.O? You saw how hurt he was." Minsoo loosened her grip on Chanyeol letting her hands just barely graze his body when she backed up. "It's your choice though." She ended joining everyone at the door again.

Chanyeol was torn. Should he avenge his friend or leave Suho to find out his own losses? He knew which way he wanted to go, but with one last glance at Baekhyun who had now shielded his eyes he raised Suho's body even higher off the ground to meet his face. Suho's eyes were still glued shut and his teeth showed through his baring lips. "Don't touch him ever again." Chanyeol growled in noticable frustration. He let Suho's body slam against the ground when he released his shirt. Suho grunted wanting to thank the latter for not punishing him even though he rightfully deserved it.

Chanyeol didn't have to say or do anything for the group at the door to part a path for him to walk through. Baekhyun who had now uncovered his eyes tagged along onto Chanyeol's shirt. The two found theirselves back in their room tending to D.O. "Please tell me you didn't hit him." D.O opened his tear filled eyes as much as he could. His deer-eyed expression still shown past the redness and tears that comsumed his entire face. Chanyeol shook his head disapprovingly. In his mind, he should've hit him. D.O's hand caught Chanyeol's wrist when he sat on the edge of the bed. "Thank you," He whispered blinking heavily.
"Why? Why do you pitty him and go back to him? What happened to sleeping in the attic?" Chanyeol bumbarded D.O with questions.
"He's all I have Chanyeol. He's the only one who loves me enough to stay around. I can't loose that-"
"What about your parents? Siblings? Extended family? Go live with them instead." Chanyeol searched from some loop hole. D.O swallowed hard at the questions letting tears flow over the edge of his eyelids.
"Parents; dead. Siblings; dead. Grandparents; dead. My aunts and uncle's won't take me in because I remind them of the accident that killed them all." Chanyeol sat struck from all his new found knowledge. "My parents and brother ..." He took a breathe to continue,

"They told me it was an accident. I was eight. That day in the park we went out for icecream. My father was hurrying us out of the park and my mom was yelling. There was gunshots in the distance and she pushed my brother and I behind a low branched tree telling us to stay there while she found out what was going on. My brother had me climb in telling me we were playing hide and seek but I had to count to 100 until I could seek him out again. Before I knew it he was gone, I thought he was hiding from me and it was all part of the game. I never did find him," D.O tried to lean his body up, "There wasn't even a scream. Just gunshots. I don't know how long I looked for my family but sooner or later the cops were all over and they found me. They brought me to my grandparents and I lived with them up until a couple years back. They passed away. I was all alone until I met Suho. He's so much like my father sometimes, I couldn't help but fall in love with him." More tears covered D.O's face. "No one but Suho wants to deal with the burden I carry, Chanyeol. Suho excepts it all."

Baekhyun reached out to D.O's arm trying not to cry with him. "As for not sleeping in the attic," D.O wipped his tears quickly drying his face. There was a certain aura he showed that told Chanyeol he was holding back all the tears he would have naturally let spill out if he was alone. "Suho doesn't like when I'm not there in the morning. It comforts him to think I've been with him all night." Chanyeol mentally cursed for asking such a personal and touchy question. He didn't know the outcome would be this dramatic.
"D.O, I'm sorry" Chanyeol started extending a hand,
"Don't be. I don't want people to be sad for my misfortune." Chanyeol looked into his eyes and they said the complete opposite. It seemed like D.O just needed someone to cry with, someone to understand and not hurt him. Someone affectionate.

"D.O-hyung, you should rest." Baekhyun cracked our silence laying D.O back. Freely obliging D.O shut his eyes calming his heart rate. Baekhyun placed a fresh icepack on his forehead pushing Chanyeol out of the room. Chanyeol waited until Baekhyun closed the door behind the both of them to say anything,
"Why do I have to ask so many questions?" He hung his head dissapointed in how the previous conversation played out. "I mean, every time I open my mouth I find out something devestating that's happened to someone or make them cry." His shining brown orbs looked down at Baekhyun's small face. All Baekhyun could do was wrap his arms around Chanyeol's body. Kris waltzed out of his room with an unapproved scowl on his face. He didn't give Chanyeol a second look before continuing into the kitchen where the rest of the boys quietly waited for him.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun walked over together, glued at the hip. Everyone lay around the small island except for Suho and D.O. No one dared to look up into someone else's eyes. The atmosphere was too intense. Awkardly everyone had their heads facing different ways wheather it be up, down, to the left, or the right, no one could get the smallest look of anyone else. Kris poored himself a hot cup of tea situating himself beside Tao. "One more slip up and he gets the first ticket home." He disturbed everyone's trainful thinking.

"One more slip?" Chanyeol blurted out absent mindedly. Kris nodded slowly, "You just watched one of your 'close friends' try to beat on his significant other! One more slip up my , send him home now." Once again boys started to disperse not wanting to get involved.
"There's three days left, Chanyeol." Kris defended his decision looking straight through the other.
"Yeah, three more days for D.O to suffer. Wouldn't it be better if he left? for all of us." Chanyeol hissed angrily. Baekhyun locked a grip around Chanyeol's arm preventing his finger from wagging at Kris.
"I'm seperating them, Yeol. You think I'm dumb enough to keep them together?" Kris squinted his eyes while questioning.
"You're dumb enough to keep him here." Chanyeol muttered just loud enough for Kris to hear.
"You know what Chanyeol, you've been being really angry lately. I think you should just stay away from group activities for a while." Kris suggested. He was trying to make it clear that Chanyeol was being over sensetive this morning.
"I'm only angry because you don't know how to run this vacation." Chanyeol slammed back.

"I told you I'm seperating them, what else do you want?"
"Him gone!"
"He's not going, Suho is a good friend of mine. Sometimes he gets carried away, it happens to the best of us."
"Carried away?! Carried away?! Really that's getting carried away?!" Chanyeol started screaming in Kris' face throwing Baekhyun off of his arm. "Getting carried away is drinking to much, or accidently hitting someone in a game. NOT HITTING SOMEONE REPEATEDLY!" Chanyeol's arms were waving through the air frantically and Baekhyun had givin up on trying to settle him. "Those bruises aren't just from today! Did you not see all of them, the one's on the front of his chest are from earlier this week and who knows how much he's been hit before! Exclude me from activities, sure but not him?! You're useless." Chanyeol walked off before Kris could share his retort.

The first place Chanyeol always goes to blow of steam is his room. He opened the door letting the light flood in onto D.O's unconcious body. He sighed pulling it shut again. He hadn't left the room for five minutes and he was already inraged again. This vacation wasn't turning out to be all he hoped it would be. Chanyeol flopped on Baekhyun's bed listening to the sound of bugs outside the small window. He didn't notice Baekhyun follow him in and crawl into bed behind him. Baekhyun wrapped his arms around Chanyeol's waist pulling his chest to the taller's back. "You tried, but you can't make decisions for Kris-hyung." He whispered making sure not to wake up D.O. Chanyeol let out a heavy breathe.

They lied there for a while. Wrapped in complete serenity. It was the first time that morning things had finally calmed down for Chanyeol. He closed his eyes catching up on all the sleep he missed the night before. Baekhyun slipped his arms away from Chanyeol's body rolling out of the bed. He sat along the side of Chanyeol's bed watching D.O. His pajama pants were covered in dustballs and fluffies from the bed in the attic. Baekhyun straightened out D.O's legs as carefully as he could and brushed any blemishes from his pants. Just above the drawstring that followed around D.O's waist the thick waistband of D.O's boxers hung out. Baekhyun could make out the Calvin Klein logo that wrapped around the elastic in dark orange thread surrounded by a black background. Eyes tracing the outline of D.O's semivisual undergarments, Baekhyun let his eyes fest on the enlongated egg shaped bruise folding up and around D.O's stomach. It had to be at least thirty centimeteres long making Baekhyun's mouth fall open the slighted bit. Crossing over that merely faded bruise was another this time in the shape of a hand. Baekhyun could distinctly pick out each individual finger. He ever so softly ran his finger's over the internal wound hoping it would only sooth D.O.

The smallest wince appeared on DO's angelic sleeping features. Baekhyun removed his hand relieving the older from pain. Everywhere Baekhyun looked on D.O's small frame he could see either pasty but mily white skin or an ugly purple shaded bruise. Just looking at all the damage Suho created made Baekhyun's whole body hurt. He could see that the ice pack he had just giving D.O was melting quickly from his unnatural body heat. Considering how warm the boy still was Baekhyun decided to grab yet another ice pack. He opened the door leaving it open for his return. Baekhyun stalked down the hallway quite dilligently and pryed open the freezer door. He grabbed a large icepack and almost quickened his pace returning to D.O. Everyone was lounging around with mopey expressions drawn on. It only showed that Baekhyun, Chanyeol and D.O weren't the only three that were affected by the ordeal.

Baekhyun hadn't bothered shut the door behind him when he broke back into his bedroom. He pulled the warm icepack off of D.O's forehead and gentle placed the cold one in it's place. 'Three ice packs in under a half an hour' Baekhyun recited to himself. D.O's temperature was unbelieveable. Baekhyun folded his arms over the edge of the bed resting his head in the crease he created. His body was pulled up along the side of the matress and his legs crossed underneath the bed's frame. He sat there for ten minutes just staring at D.O's sleeping face. When D.O was asleep in Chanyeol and Baekhyun's room he was free of all the harm that came with sleeping along side Suho. His tender complection reflected the light that poured through the open door. Though an icepack was covering his clear forehead he looked like a little kid to Baekhyun. His long eyelashed fell inline together and every now and again Baekhyun could see D.O's eyes flutter from his dreams.

Baekhyun hoped he dreamed of beautiful dreams. He hoped that D.O escaped his tragic reality when he slept. It didn't seem fair for someone as kind hearted and good at listening to go through so much pain. Baekhyun didn't want to let his eyes fall to D.O's chest again, in fear that he might not be able to look at this clam natural face. A small blackened bruise rest on D.O's left cheek bone and he had a black eye on his right to match. No matter how bloodied up D.O managed to get, Baekhyun would always think he looked beautiful. Baekhyun's hand, still resting his head, started to D.O's forearm. With a glint in his eye he saw D.O's plump lips give a small weak curve into a soothing smile. That tiny fragment of happiness made Baekhyun continue tracing circles on D.O's arm for hours on end. He would never get tired of watching someone like D.O sleep.

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*A/N: Drama, Drama, Drama. That's all I seem to write other than ... omo, I think I need some mental confrontation. Are you guys liking the story? It's sorta ... dramatic. haha. Does anyone even read my Author's notes ... ? :$

Comment what you think. No more random updating for me, going to try to do one a week. If I don't, feel free to badger me. With school coming up and my work ending it's gonna get a bit hectic and I may forget to write some days. :/

Remember, I like feed back, good or bad doesn't matter.

happy reading, ship on.

-Aurelia