Dae took a deep breath as he stood at the end of the walkway.

This was the address Ellie's mother had given him. 

He hadn't called her before hand, he was afraid she'd refuse to see him. 

The group had a couple days off before they'd have to head to Mexico for Music Bank. 

Dae had flown out to the US on his own, and would be meeting the rest of s in Mexico in a couple days.

Of course the company had no idea he'd left, and they were going to be furious when they figured it out. 

But he didn't care. This was important.

As he stood, facing the house, he was nervous, not sure what to expect.

Would she be happy to see him?

Would she shut the door in his face?

He was almost afraid to hope that things would be ok.

"Please let her be here..." he said as he took his first step toward the door.

As he stood on the front porch, his heart beat rapidly, and his palms began to sweat.

He took a deep breath and raised his hand to knock on the big wooden door, but before he could, it opened from the inside, and a woman bumped into him.

"Oh!" she said, startled.

"I'm sorry." Daehyun said bowing politely.  " I was about to knock...I was looking for someone, but you're not her..." he said in his best english.

"Ah...i'm sorry." She smiled. "Who were you looking for? Maybe i could help."

"Her name is Ellie."

"Ah, Ellie." she turned back toward the house, yelling inside. "Ellie! Someone to see you!"

She turned back to him. "She's inside with the baby. Feel free to go ahead in."

"Th..thank you." Daehyun said as she hurried off down the driveway.

She's inside with the baby?

Dae's hands shook as he moved past the door, closing it behind him.

"Yes?" a voice called out. "I'm in here, just a moment."

He swallowed the lump in his throat.

It was Ellie's voice.

Just the sound of it sent his heart racing.

His stomach churned, making him feel sick. He knew he should have eaten something this morning.

He swallowed hard, trying to calm his nerves.

"Sorry, i was just putting the baby down for his nap, I--"

Dae's heart jumped as Ellie came around the corner.

As soon as he laid eyes on her, all his nervousness vanished.

She was beautiful, she hadn't changed a bit. 

He suddenly ached, longed to hold her in his arms, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her.

But he stopped himself, reminding himself that he needed to take it slow. She was probably hurt and upset.

"Ellie.." he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper.

She froze where she stood.

She said nothing, her eyes grew wide as she stared at him.

He wasn't sure what he'd expected...maybe not for her to run and jump in his arms but...he'd hoped for at least a smile...

"D...Daehyun?? What...how...What are you doing here?" she asked.

He couldn't control it any longer, tears spilled over onto his cheeks as he spoke excitedly.

"I've been looking for you...I'm sorry i didn't get here sooner....It took me forever to find you..." he said, the words falling out of his mouth in a hurry.

"You've...been looking for me?" she said confused.

"El...why did you leave?" he asked, taking a step towards her.

Her brow furrowed as she looked at him.

"You, ...You didn't want me Dae."

"Pabo..." he said, his voice broken. "I told you....I told you to wait for me." 

His eyes were filled with pain, she couldn't bear to look into them.

"How long was i supposed to wait Dae? It had been months. You hadn't called or anything. And when your staff told me you wanted me to get lost, it just..made sense."

"What did you tell me at my father's funeral when i asked you to wait, how long did you say you would wait for me?"

Her eyes fell as she began to fidget.

"Always..."

"I've been worried sick.."

He knew he shouldn't talk to her like that, but he still couldn't understand why she'd left. It was the thing that bothered him most. He couldn't understand it...

"You think you were the only one?" she shot back."What was i supposed to do? I've been living in anxiety for so long. I couldn't take it anymore. Waiting for you to decide if you still wanted me or not...Hoping that one day you might come back to me....when they told me to go away, i figured this was a good chance for me to try and move on."

"That's why you moved all the way out here?" he asked looking about.

"I was heartbroken Dae. Absolutely crushed. I didn't know what else to do."

He shook his head. "I didn't send you away...I waited for you..i looked for you, i tried calling but my phone disappeared...I wanted to text you so many times..."

"But you didn't." she said in an angry tone.

"I didn't....i didn't know what to say.."

"Dae...why are you here?" she asked.

"Why else? I'm here for you. You can't go please..." he took another step toward her. 

"I can't sit around and wonder any more Dae. I need to move on. Like you said, you don't have the time for a relationship anyways."

"I'm sorry it's taken me so long. Everything got confusing when i lost my Dad ....I wanted to be sure of my feelings...I didn't want you to get hurt. But the longer i was away from you, the more i hurt, the sadder i became....everything was meaningless."

She stared at him.

"Ellie...I love you."

Her gazed dropped from his face, her eyes darting back and forth as if unsure of what was happening.

"I...I dont...." she started, unsure of what to say. "Dae..."

"I know what happened...I know what the company did to you...and I am so sorry Ellie. That day after the show, i waited...i searched the venue for you multiple times, they'd taken my phone so i couldn't call you...I had no idea what they'd done until we got back from tour. I went home to see you, but then my mom told me you'd left...I still didn't believe it until i went to your house and found it empty..." The tears poured down his face, his voice filled with pain and anguish.

"They told me to go...they told me that's what you wanted."

"Why would you believe that? Don't you know me better than that?"

"I wasn't sure Dae! What was i to think?? You slept with me and walked out on me, you didn't call or text for months, I was totally lost and confused i had no idea what to make of it all. I thought things were finally getting better, i thought you actually wanted to see me when you asked me to come to the show...but once i told you i thought i might be pregnant, it seemed that all went out the window."

"I keep telling you, they had my phone, i had no idea until we got back Ellie, I never would have said those things to you! Never! I love you too much Ellie."

"How the heck was I supposed to know that Daehyun?!?" she shouted at him. "I had NO idea how you felt about me. I wanted so badly to call you and text you multiple times, but i refrained, i wanted to give you space because i know how hard it is to lose a father Dae, but you left me completely alone, with nothing! I didn't know WHAT to think."

Ellie had tears streaming down her face now as she faced Dae, the anger evident in her voice.

"This is all one big mess....a big misunderstanding Ells.."

"Is it?" she said.

Dae's heart was breaking. "Ellie please...listen to me...try to understand.."

"Dae, i'm tired...i waited so long, I was tired of hurting, wondering...I didn't know what to do. I figured if you wanted me, you would've let me know. I had to move on, i was tired of suffering. 4 months should have been enough time to figure out whether you like me..."

Just then Dae could hear a baby cry somewhere in the house, and Ellie sighed.

"Great...I just got him to sleep."

And then he remembered. 

His eyes widened and he looked in the direction the crying was coming from, then back to Ellie.

"That baby...is....is it..." he stuttered.

He looked into Ellie's face as she squeezed her eyes shut tight, pain evident in her face.

"No....No Dae it's not....it takes 9 months for a baby to be born idiot....it's only been 5. I'm staying here while i try to figure things out...the woman you met is the owner of this house, that's her son. I take care of the house and watch the baby in return for room and board."

He felt silly. In all his hyped up emotion, he hadn't thought it through. Of course that couldn't be his child...it was too soon.

"So...what about....are you..." he fumbled for words, unsure how or what exactly to ask.

"What?" she asked.

He took a deep breath. "Are you...we... pregnant?"

Her lip trembled as the babies cries became louder. 

She slowly shook her head. "No...No Dae, i'm not."

"Oh." he said...not sure how to feel. 

"I was...but..."

His brow furrowed.

"Don't get me wrong." she said. "I didn't get rid of it like they asked me to. I would never... no matter how much your stupid company paid me."

"I wasn't thinking you did El."

"I lost it." She said softly, her head dropping. "I'm sorry."

There was a new pain in his chest now. 

"Oh Ellie..." he took a step forward, his urge to comfort her automatic...but she stepped back, holding her hand out in front of her. 

"Don't."

He ached...so much pain in so little time...and he hated that she felt she needed to apologize to him for it.

"Ellie please...I'm so sorry."

The baby continued crying.

"Daehyun...look, I have things to do...the baby is crying, I can't with this right now. You just showed up out of nowhere and..I have to take care of the baby, I can't deal with you here..now...it's already made me a mess...please just go."

He swallowed hard, nodding slowly.

He wasn't ready to leave, there was still so much he wanted...needed, to say. 

But he'd already upset her, and she was working...

"I'm...i'm staying at a hotel...i'll be here for the next 3 days...then I have to meet the others in Mexico..."

She sighed, wiping the tears from her face with her hands. "Leave me your hotel name and room number...maybe later...I ....i don't know..."

"Yeah, sure..." he said jotting the info down and handing it to her. 

His fingers touched hers as she took the paper, lingering for just a moment before letting go.

"I'm sorry." she said, "I just..."

Dae shook his head. "It's fine...it's fine. I understand, i do."

He turned to the door, opened it and stopped, glancing over his shoulder at her. 

"I'm sorry Ellie...I didn't come here to make you cry...I only wanted to explain."

And he turned and left.