For the rest of the night Liz stayed awake, stuck in a form of mental agony that made it impossible for her to sleep. Onew had slept fitfully beside her, jerking awake every time she breathed in jaggedly, worrying about her but not wanting to touch her.

Staring at the ceiling, Liz's breath caught in as she battled whimpers. Her hands reached up and she knotted her hands into her hair, feeling herself descending into a dark, dark place. Groaning, she pushed herself up and walked to Onew's bathroom, sniffling quietly. As she the water, the steam that roiled out of the shower, she sighed heavily and stepped in, clothed in her pajamas.

Finally being in the privacy of the shower did she allow herself to sob, hard jagged sobs that racked her entire being. Pressing her forehead to the tiled wall, her fingernails dug into the grout as she felt herself slide down to a crouched position, the hot water beating on the back of her neck.

Balling her hands into fists, she punched the walls hard, crying out now in pain as well as she felt her hands bruise. "What have I done..." She whimpered, choking on her sobs as the memories raced across her mind. "Chanyeollll..." She moaned, curling into a ball in the shower corner, trembling as she felt herself slowly succumbing to sleep, lulled by the hot water.

Next thing she knew, she was being woken up frantically by Cat, who stared at her sister with wide, tear-filled eyes. "Liz!? Liz! Are you okay?!" She cried, gently cupping her sister's face. "Why are you here?"

Looking at the concern on Cat's face was Liz's undoing again, and she dove forward, pressing her face into her sister's chest, sobbing fitfully as she knotted her hands into her loose shirt as well. "I ed up, Cat... I ed up. How will he forgive me?!"

Cat pursed her lips, wrapping her arms around her sister and brushing her hair down as she reached over and turned off the water. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Onew hovering in the doorway, a look of both guilt and dismay on his face. "Come on, Liz... We should go home." She murmured, gently tugging her to her feet and wrapping a robe around him. "Onew-ssi, I'll bring your robe back after, okay?" She murmured to him, seeing him nod as he darted from Liz's sight.

Gently she lead Liz from the room, shaking her head as she saw Key and Minho leap to their feet in the living room, concern written all over their faces. Pursing her lips, she locked her eyes with Key, almost willing him to not ask, and then sighed with relief as he nodded and sat back down.

Taemin hovered at the door, holding out a canvas bag that Cat knew contained Liz's shoes and other belongings. Smiling gently, she nodded as she took the bag from him and slid by through the door, tugging Liz tight to her as she sobbed raggedly again.

As quickly as they could they made their way back toward their room, but obviously not fast enough.

"...Liz...?" The oh-too-familiar voice echoed from the hallway, the very same hallway they had that nerf-gun war what felt like so long ago. "What's going on?"

Cat turned around, her eyes narrowing as she saw Chanyeol standing there, his hands in his pockets, muted concern written across his face. "Nothing, Chanyeol. Don't worry about it." Unable to ignore the groan from her sister upon the mention of his name, she wrapped her arm around her tighter and headed toward their room, fumbling in her pocket for her keys. His hand suddenly encircled her arm, and she whipped her head around, glaring at him. "Let me go, Chanyeol."

"Tell me what's going on, Cat. Liz, what's wrong?" He demanded, staring at the soaked girl with an intense gaze, causing Cat to growl under her breath as she pushed her way between Liz and Chanyeol.

"This doesn't concern you. Leave her alone." She hissed, narrowing her eyes as she looked up into the tall idol's face, his gaze becoming stormy as he stared back.

"Tell me what's going on. I have a right to know what’s happening!"   He snapped, his hands clenching at his sides. 

Liz looked up nervously at her sister, her eyes widening as Cat stepped between them firmly, staring up into his face defiantly.  Her arms were at her side in a relaxed image, but her entire person was stiff and ready for action if need be.  “What are you going to do if I don’t tell you, Chanyeol?  Hit me? I’m sure the rest of the guys would love if you did that.” Her voice was calm and quiet, but dripping with such malice that it caused a shiver to dash up Liz’s spine.  She had never heard Cat talk like that before, and definitely not to someone that could truly hurt her if he had a mind to.

A muscle twitched in his jaw as he looked at Cat almost imploringly, then sighed and his heel, stalking off down the hallway.  After watching him retreat for a moment Cat turned and slid her arms back around Liz and coaxed her into their apartment, only leaving her for a moment as she ran to get towels.  Quickly she dried Liz as best as she could, peeling away her wet clothing and plaiting her hair into a thick braid to get it off her face.  “Liz… what happened?”  She finally murmured after a few moments, needing answers.

For a long moment Liz stayed silent, trembling from head to toe and not from the cold.  Looking up at Cat’s concerned expression she sighed heavily, clenching her eyes shut.  “I… I made a huge mistake.”

“What happened?  You know you can tell me anything.”  Cat replied as she quietly led her to the couch, wrapping her in blankets once she sat down. 

Groaning quietly, Liz covered her face with her hands as she struggled to compose herself.  “I… I slept with Onew.”

“Is that it?  I’ve slept in the same bed with the majority of the EXO guys, and I’ve fallen asleep on Key’s shoulder.  Not a big deal.”  Cat smiled wanly, knowing what she meant but trying to keep things light and relaxed.

“No, Cat.  No.  I mean I slept with him.  As in… as in .”  Liz spat out, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes at the memory.  “I shouldn’t have, and I didn’t mean to but we were drunk and I was depressed and… and it just happened!”  Sobs tore through her again and she doubled over, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face into her knees.

Frowning, Cat leaned over and threw her arms around her shoulders, murmuring wordlessly as she tried to comfort her sister.  “We all make mistakes, Liz… It’s only human.”

“But how am I supposed to explain this to Chanyeol?!  After I did exactly what he said I would.  I cheated on him!”  Liz cried in anguish, her sobs choking off until she merely shook with unshed tears.

“Lizzy… I don’t think you don’t need to worry.  Despite his angry face out in the hall, I can see he really was worried about you… If he truly cares for you, he’ll forgive you.  And babe, you weren’t with him at the time, so there’s no cheating.”

“I love him, Cat… I love him.”  Liz muttered brokenly, causing Cat’s heart to wrench.  “I don’t know what I’m going to do…”

Sighing heavily, Cat hung her head for a moment as she absorbed her sister’s words.  Never one for the dramatics, Cat knew Liz really did love this man if she felt this bad about falling with Onew. Chewing on the inside of her cheek for a minute, she reached out and grabbed Liz’s hand, holding it tightly. “…I know.”