She didn't realise there were tears flowing down her face until what felt like a warm tongue them away, and she looked up, startled, to see the black wolf. It had limped over to her, and it was clear that it was injured badly as it lay down with a huff/whine in front of her. She hesitantly reached out to the soft fur on top of its head, her eyes raking over its body for the injuries it had sustained.

"Thank you for protecting me." She whispered, as though it could hear. The wolf merely whimpered, laying its huge head on her lap as it looked at her through eyes that seemed too intelligent for its species. The gaze in those eyes was familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen such an expression before.

She laid her cheek against the fur under her hands, sighing softly as she closed her eyes.

This has been one hell of a nightmare.

Slowly, so slowly she wasn't sure if she was imagining it at first, the wolf's head began to shrink. Its snout and fangs receded, leaving a human face behind. She looked up, startled, to see that the rest of the wolves were transforming as well.

She looked back down just in time to see the completion of the transformation, seeing for the first time the ones who had protected her in her time of need.

Tao lay on the ground, his skin marred with deep cuts and bruises as blood flowed from his wounds. Baekhyun turned out to be in much the same state, seeing as he had been the white wolf. Turning around, she realised the two other wolves had been Chanyeol and Kris, and they were both looking down at her in concern as she looked around wildly in shock.

Wait... Werewolves? What... Am I listening to their songs too much or something what is this.

Tao's eyelids fluttered and he groaned, drawing her attention back to him almost immediately.

"Are you alright? Please don't die on me." She whispered, suddenly afraid he would be gone and she'd never see him again. Unexpectedly, he grinned, before he chuckled.

"I'm not going anywhere; don't worry. I'd never leave you alone." He smiled, reaching up to her face with a trembling hand, wiping off the tears that had begun to fall. "I'm fine, seriously. But as for you..." He trailed off, suddenly looking serious.

"You need to wake up. Now."

Kuri sat up in bed with a gasp, flinching when she heard the loud knocking coming from her door again.

"Kuri, are you alright?" Tao's voice called from the other side, obviously filled with worry.

. Was I screaming in my sleep?

She hurriedly shuffled towards the door, clutching her throbbing head as she opened it to find Tao clad in bunny pyjamas, looking concerned.

"What is it..?" She asked, trying not to let the fear from the dream she had just inhabited show on her face.

"We heard you screaming from next door. So I decided to see if you were alright." He replied, his brows creasing in worry. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"..." She didn't want to tell him the truth, so she tried to change the subject. "When did you even have a room next to mine... I thought you stayed with the rest in a suite?" She asked, both because she was confused and because she didn't want him to know about her dream.

"We do have a suite, yes, but we only use that for gatherings. Each pair of members has their own room and I'm sharing with Baekhyun, so..." He shrugged, and as he said that, she could see Baekhyun's silhouette shuffle quickly back into their room and close the door.

"But anyways. What did you dream about that was so horrible you can't tell me?" Tao asked, looking suspicious. "You can't lie; your face tells it all. Was it about Taylor?" He asked, a hint of irritation beginning to show on his face.

Kuri merely nodded, before she promptly burst into tears yet again at the memory of the dream.

Taylor, and Tao... Both fighting... Taylor... Bleeding out on the ground and slipping from life... Tao, who protected her, even at the cost of his own life...

"... May I come inside?" he asked, and once she nodded assent, walked into the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Kuri felt warm arms wrap around her, as a soothing voice whispered in her ear, Tao's warm breath tickling the sensitive skin as he spoke.

"Shh... It'll be fine, it was just a dream." He soothed her, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"But but... Taylor died and you nearly did and Baekhyun too and-" she was cut off by Tao, who looked surprised. "Baekhyun? What does he have to do with all this?" He asked, surprised.

"I don't know.. He was just there." She shrugged, trying to act indifferent, though she was confused as well.

"I see. Well... It'll be fine. Baekhyun and I are both fine." He assured her, brushing the tears off of her face.

Though if I ever see Taylor hurt her again, he won't be. The venom behind the thought surprised him, but he kept his face emotionless as he tried to comfort her.

"Come on, I'll make you a drink." he shooed her towards the armchair by the window, before busying himself with brewing a mug of hot tea for her.

Once he was done, he placed the steaming mug on the table between the two armchairs, throwing a jacket he'd found in the closet over her and making sure she was snug before settling down in the armchair opposite her, watching as she sipped tea from her mug and gazed out at the view of the city at night.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, wishing he could see what she saw in the bright lights far below. She certainly was unique; she seemed to be able to see things others couldn't. "... Nh." She made a noncommittal sound, and shrugged as she curled up tighter under the jacket, taking scalding sips of her tea.

A full moon was out that night, and she watched it make its slow arc across the winter sky as she clutched the warm cup in her freezing hands.

She turned for the first time and looked towards Tao, who was now slumped, asleep, in his seat. With a sigh, she set down the cup of tea, carefully wrapping a coat around him as she gently caressed his face, trailing her fingers over his eyelids, the bridge of his nose, his lips... She felt a shock course through her at the feeling of his soft lips against her fingers, the warmth of his breath on her chilled skin. Once again, her lips seemed to tingle, a reminder of what had happened that day.

Baekhyun was right today though. You'd never be able to date him. So just give it up; pretend today never existed. And tomorrow will be a new day.

She tried to convince herself that what she felt for him was just friendship, but if they were just friends, then why did he kiss her? Why did she let him?

She crawled into bed like a three year old, pulling the blanket over her head as she surrendered to the darkness, trying not to think of dark eyes and blonde hair.

[A/N hello! Haha this is the first time I have had two chapters of Wanderlust in reserve (': hopefully I can make a large enough gap that I can just post one a day and still have time to slack (': but yeah... Thanks for stopping by and reads/reviews/votes are always appreciated! <3 (on a side note I feel like it's rly dull ending it like this all the time but idk what to write for A/Ns too... ^^"]