They had a hard time picking a movie everyone wanted to see. Heechul's opinion of a horror flick won over Sora and with her on his side, their problems were solved. Heechul offered to buy the snacks as a thank you for letting him sit at their table. Donghae saw this as the perfect opportunity to shove Leeteuk at him. He corralled Eunhyuk and Sora off to find their seats, leaving Leeteuk to help Heechul carry the treats.

Leeteuk glared at Donghae as he walked away smiling, but Heechul knew exactly what that kid was up to, he'd have to thank him later. As they waited in line for treats, Heechul looked over Leeteuk. There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but he could feel the stress coming off of him.

"You don't have to help," Heechul offered. "You can go sit."

"You don't know Donghae very well." Leeteuk chuckled. If he even tried getting away from Heechul, Donghae would just walk him back out here.

Heechul smirked. "You're right. He seems like a good guy though."

"He's not terrible," Leeteuk nodded.

Heechul got the largest popcorn and some extra cups so they could share it. Leeteuk picked which sodas to share and Heechul left the candy selection up to him too.

They didn't get much more of a chance for conversation as Heechul paid and they walked to their theatre. Heechul held the door open for Leeteuk and followed him up to their seats before passing out cups of popcorn. Leeteuk handed over drinks and candy boxes.

Eunhyuk was in the middle of Sora and Donghae. Leeteuk picked sitting at Donghae's free side and Heechul sat down beside him. A few other groups of people piled into the theatre, but they ended up having the row to themselves.

Leeteuk was feeling more comfortable having Heechul at his side. It was almost as if they'd never stopped being friends with how familiar he felt next to him. Heechul caught Leeteuk staring at him as he turned off his phone, he raised a brow with a smile and Leeteuk grinned, shrugging.

Heechul smiled, remembering how Leeteuk never liked to go with him to horror movies. Heechul liked the emotional joy ride of sinking in and getting scared but Leeteuk spent most of his days afraid of his father, so it didn't have the same effect. Leeteuk hadn't complained very loudly when everyone agreed to this one though, maybe he'd gotten over his fear. The first jump scare proved Heechul wrong as Leeteuk's hands came up to plug his ears. Heechul chuckled at him and went back to watching the movie.

Leeteuk hid himself through most of the movie, plugging his ears to drown out the intensity of the sounds. He managed with very little jumping even though a few moments scared him. When the movie was over he stretched and yawned, pretending it hadn't bothered him at all. Donghae snorted at his reaction as they all got up to head out.

Heechul stepped up and offered everyone to coffee to talk about the movie. It was time for Sora and Eunhyuk to head home and Donghae agreed it was about that time. Leeteuk was on the fence and Heechul could tell that he was coming with him despite what the others did.

"All right," Heechul said with a little frown. "It was nice to hang out with you guys though, we should do it again."

Sora laughed. "Yeah right, Monday you'll go back to stuck up bratboy with his popular friends. Don't pretend Heechul."

Heechul was offended at that but he shrugged and smiled. "You never know."

Looking to Leeteuk, Heechul saw that he was in quiet conversation with Donghae.

"Call me if he does anything horrible to you." Donghae said. "He seems okay alone though."

"Don't worry," Leeteuk smiled. "I can take care of myself. I just have to talk to him."

"Yeah, I know. Text if you need anything. See you Monday?"

Leeteuk nodded and hugged Donghae. "Thanks for inviting me out with you guys today."

"We'll talk more about that school party thing later." Donghae smiled.

Heechul stepped in at that point while Donghae walked away. He waved to the others and looked at Leeteuk. "Shall we?"

"Yeah," Leeteuk nodded.

Their walk to Heechul's favorite shop was silent. Leeteuk was trying to figure out what he wanted to say most. The silence turned awkward just as they got to the shop, saving them from pointless topics.

"Coffee or something without caffeine?" Heechul asked him.

Leeteuk looked over the menu. "Just a hot chocolate I think."

Heechul nodded and motioned for Leeteuk to find a seat while he went to order for them.

The shop wasn't busy at this late hour but Leeteuk still went for a dimly lit corner away from the windows; just in case anyone Heechul knew happened to walk by, as well as if their conversation took a turn for the worst, they wouldn't cause a scene.

Heechul came to sit beside him as they waited for their drinks to be brought out.

"So, how have you been?" Heechul ventured.

"Honestly?" Leeteuk asked, looking at him. "Wondering what the hell happened to you." His voice was angrier than he'd planned.

Heechul was prepared for the anger. "Yeah, about that." He swallowed and sighed, looking to Leeteuk's eyes. "I know this isn't going to be the answer you want, but I can't tell you. I would if I could, I promise you. Maybe someday I can, but I can't right now." Heechul shouldn't really be talking to Leeteuk even now, but he couldn't stay away anymore, the gate had been opened.

Leeteuk sighed. "I should have guessed you'd say something like that." He shook his head and looked away as the waitress brought over their drinks. "I think it really and that you're a giant . But," Leeteuk paused to think. "I miss you. I mean, you were my friend. The only best friend I had, and then you weren't there?" Leeteuk puffed his cheeks as he breathed out. "I want to talk to you again, but you can't expect me to jump back into happy fun times, I'm mad as hell at you."

Heechul was quiet as he watched Leeteuk. He deserved his anger and he knew it.

"I could have really used you. Someone to help me with the first year of high school, instead of having no one. Inyoung moved out for college, my dad's still bad, but not as bad and here I am plopped into hell with no one to talk to about it, no one. When I should have had a best friend there wasn't anyone, Heechul. How could you do that to me?"

Heechul opened his mouth to reply, but Leeteuk cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I don't expect you to answer, since you said you can't, but you have to understand what you did to me. I mean I wasn't the happiest person to start with and now I'm one step away from locking myself in my room and never coming back out. I needed you. I still need you." Leeteuk scrubbed his face with his hand.

"I didn't mean to go," Heechul said. "And I can tell you honestly it wasn't the easiest choice. But some things, I can't get away from. Some things my dad's work takes him into, affect me too."

"But you could have said something to me. Something, anything. Hey Jungsu, my dad's work is making it so I can't be near you anymore. Even if it doesn't make sense to me, I could have at least had something to go on, instead of guessing for a year and a half what I'd done to you to make you hate me so much."

"I don't hate you," Heechul said with a frown, looking to Leeteuk's eyes. "I never have hated you."

Leeteuk scoffed despite himself. "That would have been nice to know back then." He sighed and reached for his cup, sipping hot chocolate.

"I'm sorry. It was a big mistake to just leave you like that. I know it, I felt it even then. I just, had to." Heechul said softly, looking at his own cup. "Honestly, I still shouldn't be around you, but I don't want to be away anymore. I miss my friend. I haven't felt as close with anyone as I do you. Even here, I feel like no time has gone by between us. It feels like our lives just paused and now they can start again."

Leeteuk frowned at him. "It won't be that easy for me to just forget everything I've felt."

"I know," Heechul said. "But I'll stick around until you can, or at least until you can forgive me." He smiled softly, looking at Leeteuk. "Deal?"

Leeteuk moved his head in a slight nod. "But what about school and your new friends? I am so far beyond being secret friends with you, so don't even ask me to play those games."

Heechul chuckled. "I won't. I'll figure out what to do with them. Don't worry."

Leeteuk couldn't stop himself worrying. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he answered his mom.

"Yes, I'm still out mom." Leeteuk looked at Heechul. "I don't know, let me ask." He moved the phone away from his mouth to ask. "Do you want a ride home?" Heechul shook his head. "No, he'll be fine. Okay. Yeah. See you in a bit. Bye." Leeteuk stuck his phone back in his pocket. "Not going home?"

Heechul shook his head and looked at the time. "I can't yet."

"What are you going to do, spend the night here?" Leeteuk asked. It was nearly midnight already.

"Mm, maybe?" Heechul smiled. "Do you still have my number in your phone?"

Leeteuk paled a little but nodded. "I figured you'd changed it when you stopped answering my texts."

Heechul shook his head. "It's the same. I have yours too. Do you mind if I text you?"

Leeteuk shook his head. "That's fine. I'm going to go wait for my mom. Thanks for the hot chocolate."

Heechul nodded and stood up when Leeteuk did.

Leeteuk bowed his head as he walked past him, but stopped to turn back. "And if you ever do something like that to me again, I'll never talk to you again." He said in a fierce whisper.

Heechul nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Uhm, have a good night." Leeteuk said and left.

Heechul watched him go and sat back down. He sipped his coffee slowly. Kangin would be the most understanding, he listened to Heechul's wisdom. But the girls, the girls would never forgive him talking to Leeteuk and the other nerds. Heechul knew he didn't really care though. If they couldn't accept his friends, they weren't his friends. He sighed and looked out the window into the darkening night.