Kyuhyun was more than a little surprised when he heard soft knocking on his door. It was so soft that he barely heard it from inside his room.

He glanced at the clock on his laptop and furrowed his eyebrows. It was a little past 3 in the morning. He wondered who was looking for him at such an hour, because he sure wasn’t expecting anyone. All he had planned for tonight was playing some video games and maybe watching a movie, since he didn’t have early lectures at the University the next day.

Kyuhyun sat up in his bed, putting the laptop away and pulled off the covers still rather confused about who it was. Meanwhile the knocking sounded throughout the silence of the apartment again, though this time he thought it was even softer than before. He got up and hesitantly went to the door of his apartment. He peeked through the peephole and his eyes widened. He quickly went to unlock the door and open it, coming face to face with someone he didn’t expect to see, at least not in such hour.

“Donghae?” he questioned staring at his friend’s face. It looked nothing like the face he remembered seeing just 2 days ago. Donghae’s expression was lifeless, emotionless; His eyes were unfocused, staring at the place where the door had been moments ago, now replaced by Kyuhyun’s body. “What are you doing here?”

Donghae didn’t say anything. Actually, he didn’t react at all. He stood motionless as if he wasn’t aware Kyuhyun was there at all.

Kyuhyun stared at him, not understanding why he wasn’t responding. Too see him like this was more than a little strange and uncommon. Donghae was the brightest and most cheerful person he’s ever met. He was constantly blabbering excitedly about something and his eyes always had that happy glimmer in them that made him so loveable. Even when he was worried by something or something bad had happened, Donghae never let it get to him that much.

The younger knew something was deeply wrong.  The person that was standing in front of him right now at 3AM was nothing like his friend and he was extremely worried. He wondered just what has happened to Donghae that got that empty, full of seriousness and despair expression on his face. Kyuhyun’s eyes then noticed the slight, nearly unnoticeable traces of dried out tears on his friend’s face and he frowned. His heart clenched at the sight. Just what happened to him? He took a better look at Donghae’s condition. His friend was wearing a ridiculous combination of an old pair of sweatpants and a button up shirt that was obviously not buttoned up the right way. His frown only deepened. This was just another thing that his friend wouldn’t usually do. Donghae was a person who paid a lot of attention to his looks, especially to the way he dressed. After a second look he noticed his hair was also a mess, some strands sticking in random directions.

Something must have happened; something big. Kyuhyun wanted to know what it was, he wanted to help, but Donghae just kept standing there, not saying a word, as if he hadn’t even noticed Kyuhyun’s presence yet.

And then Kyuhyun’s eyes trailed down to what was actually standing beside Donghae – a suitcase.

He knew then. He didn’t need Donghae to say anything just to know that something has happened between him and Eunhyuk and Donghae took off. The weird thing was that whatever happened between them in the past, it had never come this far. And they had fought a lot, for a lot of things, and every one of them worse than the previous one.

‘Oh Hae…’ Kyuhyun thought, shaking his head, thinking what had that jerk Eunhyuk done this time. He had to use all his power not to growl out a number of profanities right then and there. He knew Donghae didn’t need that at this moment.

“Donghae,” Kyuhyun took hold of both Donghae’s shoulders and shook him lightly to get him out of his trance. His friend’s sight slowly came back into focus and he lifted his eyes to meet Kyuhyun’s. His eyes were watery and the desperate, lost look on his face made Kyuhyun sigh with sympathy. “Come in.” He simply said, ushering the boy to get inside.

He took Donghae’s suitcase, after his friend had probably forgotten he even had it with him and locked the door after him.

Donghae went and sat down on the couch, his eyes getting more and more watery by the second. For only a second his face contorted into a grimace full of pain and despair and he tried not to let it show by burying it in his hands.

He was broken this time, Kyuhyun knew.

He went by the couch not sure what to do to make things better. He knew he probably couldn’t make things better at all. He could only listen if Donghae felt like talking about what happened at all and offer to go beat Eunhyuk up, if it’d make Donghae feel better. It wasn’t long before he heard soft sniffles coming from Donghae, his face still buried in his hands and he didn’t fail to notice his friend’s slightly shaking shoulders.

Kyuhyun clenched his fists. A deep scowl appeared on his face just from the thought of his friend being so hurt. Then he thought about the bastard whose fault it all was. Ugh. The image of Eunhyuk’s stupid face appeared in his mind and only made him want to go find him right this very moment and strangle him with his bare hands. 

He shook his head, pushing out the rather tempting idea to the back of his mind. Donghae was more important now. He could imagine killing Eunhyuk later.

“Hae,” Kyuhyun tried again. He had to make his friend at least say a single word. He couldn’t bear the silence anymore. “Do you want me to make you something to drink? Or eat? Maybe a hot chocolate? I know it’s your favorite. You must be freezing; it’s pretty chilly outside.”

Donghae lifted his head from his hands tiredly and looked at Kyuhyun with red and puffy eyes. He fiddled with his fingers and looked as if he was thinking hard about something then shook his head.

“No.” His one worded response didn’t really satisfy Kyuhyun. He heard how drained Donghae’s voice sounded. And that was even more of a reason for him to eat or drink something to bring some energy back to his body.

Kyuhyun was about to protest when Donghae continued.

“I’m going to need something stronger than hot chocolate tonight, Kyu.” He sighed, suddenly looking at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“Oh.”

Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows in bafflement. If there was something he knew for sure about his best friend, it was that he never drank alcohol. Even when there was a special occasion or a party he declined every offer for a drink.

“Donghae…” Kyuhyun trailed off not knowing how to continue exactly. Even though Kyuhyun himself drank often and didn’t think it was at all wrong to drink from time to time, he didn’t feel like giving alcohol to his friend. He knew it was only the despair talking and he was more than sure the older would regret it later. Before he managed to find the proper words to voice his concerns though, Donghae cut him short.

“Please, Kyu. I really don’t want to talk about this right now. I just need something to make me forget. Just for tonight, I need to stop thinking. I need to be numb just for a little while. I can’t take this.” His voice became quieter with every word, his last sentence sounding more like a whisper.

Kyuhyun released a sigh of disagreement, but still complied. He nodded, not sure if Donghae saw the action, since his eyes remained glued to the floor, not once looking up at him.

By the suitcase and Donghae’s face and condition he could already make a pretty accurate assumption of what had happened, but he decided to wait and let Donghae tell him everything on his own, instead of being his usual snarky self and going straight to throwing a million of insults and curses at Eunhyuk.

He left Donghae alone in the living room and went to check his stashes of alcohol and see what he could give to his friend to calm his aching heart.

Kyuhyun came back with two glasses of whiskey. He handed one to Donghae and sat down beside him on the couch.

Donghae held the glass, the coldness of it embracing his fingertips momentarily. He stared at the amber colored drink and the ice cubes floating on the surface. ‘Cold’ he thought bitterly. ’Just like Hyukjae.’ He finished in his mind and downed the whiskey in one go.

Hi grimaced disgustedly, scrunching up his nose, followed by a strong coughing fit.

Once he has calmed down he put the glass down on the table in front of him and turned to Kyuhyun.

“Do you have more of that?”

 Kyuhyun stared at him in disbelief. Was this the same Donghae he knew?

More than an hour and half a bottle of whiskey later spent in silence that was only interrupted by Donghae who kept coughing from the strong alcohol, both Kyuhyun and Donghae were undeniably drunk. Donghae of course, a lot more than Kyuhyun.

“I –“Donghae finally broke the silence. “I left him.”

“What?” Kyuhyun asked drunkenly, not sure if he heard right.

“I left him.” Donghae repeated.

Kyuhyun stared quietly, not sure how to reply. He knew already that Donghae left by the suitcase he brought with him, but he felt it wasn’t the right moment to act like a ing know-it-all.

“Oh…” he only mumbled in the end and cleared his throat awkwardly. He was expecting Donghae to continue, to tell him what happened exactly but he just stood there, staring at his almost empty glass.

“So, uhm… why-“ Kyuhyun stopped abruptly in the middle of his question when he heard a barely audible sob.

“H-He…” he sniffled. “I caught him cheating again. Again, Kyuhyun! I am so sick of it, you know I am! A-And he even dared to act as if nothing happened.”

“That bastard.” Kyuhyun mumbled under his breath, downing the rest of his whiskey in one go.

Even though he knew Donghae left, Kyuhyun was still surprised that he did. And on top of all – that he was the one who initiated it. He had been a silent witness to many of the fights between Eunhyuk and Donghae; fights in which it was always about things Eunhyuk did wrong. Donghae never had the guts to leave him for good any of those times. No matter how hurt he was, he always ended up forgiving him after crashing at Kyuhyun’s place for one or two nights. Eunhyuk always had his ways to make Donghae come back to him.

And that was just another thing that sickened Kyuhyun. Why did Eunhyuk care so much if Donghae left? By the way he saw it, Eunhyuk didn’t love Donghae or else he wouldn’t treat him like trash. He had the impression that Eunhyuk takes Donghae for granted, someone that would stay and wait for him while he’s out partying and flirting with other people, someone who he could mess with and throw aside when he’s done. For him Donghae was a safe house that he could come to whenever he didn’t have something better to do, that’d always be there for him and welcome him with open arms no matter what. So what exactly made Eunhyuk come knocking on his door or calling Donghae’s phone nonstop until he picked up whenever they had one of their fights? Why does put so much effort into getting him back just to toss him aside again when he has him?

“T-There’s actually worse…” Donghae cried, his voice full of the embarrassment he felt, by how weak he was. That made Kyuhyun’s thoughts come to a halt. “I was ready to leave, b-but somehow he still made me stay, he got me on his little finger even after all that with just a few sweet words. It wasn’t until he was done using me that I realized staying was a big mistake. I’m such a fool!” He covered his face with his hands in desperation.

Kyuhyun didn’t say a word. He just clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to calm himself down. His imagination went wild once more and thought of the most painful ways in which he could kill Lee Hyukjae.

Soon though, he had to stop daydreaming, alarmed by the sniffles and occasional sobs that kept coming from his friend.

Donghae’s face was red and his eyes were already swollen from all his nonstop crying.

“What if I end up going back to him again?” Donghae asked in between sobs.”I’m scared, Kyu.” His voice was trembling and cracking due to his unending crying.

Kyuhyun’s expression was one of insane bitterness. He felt like his whole body was being torn into pieces and his heart clenched painfully just from watching his best friend like this. He couldn’t even imagine how Donghae himself felt.

It couldn’t have possibly been easy for him to grab his bags and walk out the door. His condition right now was only proof of that. His tear-stained cheeks, his swollen red eyes and wobbling lips were only showing how broken he was by the fact that it had come to this.

Through his whole relationship with Eunhyuk, Donghae always stood up for him. Whenever Kyuhyun badmouthed him in any way, Donghae always found some excuse for him and believed things wouldn’t always be bad. He truly believed he and Eunhyuk could be perfectly happy someday, happy to only have each other.  He always considered himself pretty optimistic.

Kyuhyun didn’t see it that way. To be honest, he thought Donghae was nothing less than delusional when it came to his relationship with that bastard.

‘Ah, Donghae, see where that ‘optimism’ of yours got you…’ He thought bitterly, a frown appearing on his face when he glanced at the older.

He sat closer to Donghae and hugged him, letting him cry on his shoulder. He patted his back in a desperate effort to make him feel better, just a tiny bit better. He hated seeing his friend like this, broken into pieces over and over again.

“It’s okay, Hae. That’s not going to happen.” He whispered, desperately trying to calm him down. ”I won’t let it.”

Kyuhyun rocked his friend’s body gently back and forth, while he kept crying his heart out.

He sighed audibly. Eunhyuk sure as hell didn’t deserve even one of the tears falling from Donghae’s eyes. That idiot didn’t even deserve a second glance from Donghae or any other being on the planet for that matter. No one deserved to have such a low life as he was beside them. If only Donghae had seen him for who Eunhyuk really was in the beginning. If only he knew he deserved better right from the start. If only he had looked more closely around him to find love. If only it was him instead of Eunhyuk. Things would have been a whole lot different. If only…

Soon enough the sobs died down and were replaced by Donghae’s deep and even breaths.

Kyuhyun looked down to see Donghae sleeping deeply with his mouth slightly opened. A sad smile crept on his face. He got up from the couch gingerly and let Donghae lay on it carefully instead. He didn’t want to wake him up. He went to his room, trying his hardest not to make a sound and came back with a thick blanket and pillow. Once he made sure Donghae wasn’t going to be cold or uncomfortable he turned off the lights and headed to his room.

He stopped at the door and glanced back at the couch from where he could already hear Donghae’s soft snores.

He smiled sadly.

It was not the first time Donghae has come to his house bitter and angry after one of his numerous fights with that . He always came crying his eyes out on Kyuhyun’s shoulder and then proceeded to get back to Eunhyuk the very next day.

But he was never like how he was right now.

This time it didn’t seem like it was going to be the same. Along with the hurt and torn expression on Donghae’s face earlier, there was something else as well. Kyuhyun saw determination. He had hope that Donghae has finally seen his of a boyfriend for who he truly was and was sick of living his life like this. He saw that this time Donghae really wanted to be out of Eunhyuk’s hands for good.

Right then and there, in Donghae’s sadness and pain, Kyuhyun found a glimmer of hope.  

A/N:

Yes, I am back. 

I feel like I should apologize and explain why I've been gone for a little less than a year without at the very least letting you guys know. 

I had some really bad things happening to me and my family lately and with that along with stress from school and applying to universities I found myself at an awful place. I don't really feel ready to talk about it in detail, but I went through a really bad depression (and I still don't feel quite out of it yet) - hence my writer's block. 

I couldn't write one paragraph without feeling like . I tried many times to start working on one of the stories I have, but I just couldn't do it. 

This chapter alone has been re-written number of times, even now I'm not really satisfied with it. 

But I'm determined to keep trying. I'll try to use writing as a source of release from all the stress I'm going through and I really hope it'll work. 

This story is going to be more on the angsty side for quite a while, probably because that's what i feel like writing lately, I can't make myself write anything close to comedy and rainbows and unicorns. But I feel it's how this story is supposed to be. We can't have Eunhae getting back together so soon anyway. 

So yeah, I'm really sorry for those of you who were waiting for updates for this story or Rated R ( which I won't start soon because like I said I'm in no mood to write rom/com)  But I promise I will try really hard with Stay with Me. 

Oh by the way, did you see a major part of the plot forming up or I didn't hint it enough? :D 

Sorry for the long a/n as well... I guess you're not really interested in reading all that -.- 

I hope this chapter wasn't that big of a fail and you enjoyed reading :)