“Lilah?”

My heart skipped a beat then. The voice sounded foreign and yet so recognizable. I kept my back turned, however. Something in me didn’t want to face the person who spoke my name. Something in me simply couldn’t.

“Lilah, please,” they pleaded.

There it was again. The familiarity that I couldn’t place. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. Something wasn’t right here. Why wouldn’t I look at them? What was I so afraid of? A loud bang jolted me back to the moment, and I felt myself falling forward. My eyes squeezed shut again as I feared the next seconds.

I opened my eyes when I realized I wasn’t falling anymore, but simply standing where I had been before. I knew for sure I was just falling? My attention was taken by the sudden appearance of my breath in the air. I shivered, not out of being cold, but because I knew I should.

“Lilah?”

I paused, jerking my head to the side. My eyes stopped just before they fell into my line of sight.

“Please move away from the ledge,” they begged.

That voice was different than the first. This one sounded closer, more familiar. Fear swarmed in my chest and before I could turn any farther the sound of thunder exploded in my ears and I was stumbling over the edge of the building again.

-----x-----

“Ya-“ I exclaimed, jolting forward.

Someone immediately threw their arms up, pulling me to their chest. My lungs heaved as I tried to find something to focus on. I listened carefully for the first sound I could catch onto. A heartbeat. It was quick, at first. As it slowed I forced my breathing to do the same. After a few minutes of this, I pulled back. I covered my face with my hands, annoyed at my constant bad dreams.

“Are you okay, Lilah?”

The sound of thunder outside made me jump a bit, but I nodded my head. My hands fell to my lap and I glanced at who had tried to calm me. I smiled at Baekhyun, slightly embarrassed. This was twice now he had gone out of his way to help me today. He looked as though he too had just woken up and I felt bad immediately.

I glanced around the room, taking note of everyone missing, besides Chanyeol who had just started waking on the other side of me. The smell of something cooking came to my attention and I glanced around for some sort of indication to the time.

“How are you feeling, Lilah?” Chanyeol’s voice was raspy and quiet as he woke up.

I took a moment to assess myself. I definitely felt a lot better than I did when I woke up this morning. It also felt as though my fever had broken.

“Much better, Yeol. Thank you,” I replied.

Without another word I pushed myself against the back of the couch, yawning.

“You just slept for like three hours, how can you still be tired?” Baekhyun exclaimed.

“I still feel really weak,” I responded quietly.

He chuckled a bit and stretched his arms over his head. I listened as the rain outside began to fall in a heavier manner.

“I don’t think you’re going to get home any time soon,” Chanyeol noted.

“I’ll sleep on the couch if I have to,” I responded.

“That’s nonsense!” Lay called from the kitchen doorway.

I jolted forward and looked over at him, surprise obvious on my face.

“If you’re staying here you can have my bed. Or I’m sure we’ll all figure something out. You’re not sleeping on the couch,” he continued as he came farther into the living room.

“I couldn’t do that to you guys,” I blushed, “Not again.”

“Again?” Baekhyun asked.

“Didn’t Xiumin give me his bed last night?” I trailed.

The three boys glanced at one another.

“Well, I mean, he slept there too, but he just got up earlier than you.”

I froze immediately. My eyes widened and I could feel my heart begin to beat heavily. I slept in the same bed as Xiumin? Even worse, I slept in the same bed as a boy?

“It was really late and everyone was tired. We didn’t really have time to plan,“ Lay spoke suddenly.

I quickly covered my face and shook my head.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be an inconv-“

“No!”

Lay, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo all spoke at the same time. I looked up and found Kyungsoo entering the room from the kitchen.

“You’re not an inconvenience. Stop thinking you are.”

Baekhyun’s words were solid and serious. This was the first time I’d ever seen him so serious about anything, and it gave an edge of sincere credibility to his statement. Unsure of how to respond, I simply stared at him.

“Why do you always think you’re being a burden on us, Lilah?” Lay inquired.

My eyes flickered over to him. I thought about his question, but I didn’t really know how to respond to it.

“Well, I just,” I trailed, “I’ve never been good with people. I always just think I’m bothering them or something. I don’t know.”

“Well you’re not a bother to us,” Chanyeol exclaimed, “In fact it’s really nice having you around all the time!”

Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, and Lay agreed with him and I felt myself blush in embarrassment. The sound of a pair of feet hitting the ground by the stairs caught all of us off guard.

“Is the food almost rea- Oh! Lilah, how are you feeling?” Kris asked curiously.

“Much better, thank you for asking,” I smiled.

“That’s great to hear,” he smiled.

I blinked a couple of times and turned to Lay and Kyungsoo.

“So, is the food almost ready?” I asked, emphasizing ‘is.’

Lay grinned in an amused fashion, Kyungsoo sighing with a smile and shaking his head.

“Give us another ten minutes or so,” Kyungsoo relayed as he turned and headed back to the kitchen.

“Glad to know you’re feeling better, Lilah,” he called before he disappeared.

Kris joined us in the living room as Lay stood to exit. I watched as he plopped down on the couch, sighing and throwing his head back. Just then Luhan and Tao came bounding down the stairs, clearly in competition over something. Luhan opened his mouth to ask something but paused when he saw me.

“Lilah! You’re awake!” He said excitedly, almost like a child.

I giggled at him. It was definitely cute. Tao seemed to be more interested in me than their situation also.

“Lilah!”

“Lilah?”

I froze at the remembrance of my dream. The way Tao said my name reminded me of the voice that called my name in my dream. Quickly I shook it off and smiled, nodding to them.

“Are you going to stay awake long enough to eat, or are you going to fall asleep on your plate?” Tao teased.

I stuck my tongue out playfully, blushing.

“Maybe I will,” I joked.

He laughed, Luhan, Kris, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol joining in. My attention returned to the stairs as more of the boys filed into the living room. Apparently they were all curious about me. It was heartwarming, for sure. It felt nice to have friends who cared about my health. A loud bang of thunder hit again and I jerked, chirping a bit before slapping a hand over my mouth. I glanced around, hoping no one had heard the noise I had made, but of course I wasn’t so lucky.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol doubled over in obnoxious laughter, the room becoming filled with heavy laughter from everyone. I frowned beneath my hands and dropped my head. Leave it to me to embarrass myself.

“That was so cute,” Xiumin laughed.

“Definitely,” Suho and Kai agreed.

My face was burning hot and had I not known any better, I’d have blamed my fever.

“If you’re all done laughing at Lilah,” Kyungsoo called out playfully, “The food is ready!”

Instantly the boys launched toward the kitchen. I smiled at Kyungsoo as he carried two bowls of something toward me. He placed the bowl in front of me on the coffee table, after moving it closer to me.

“Ramen!”

“It’s spicy, be careful,” he warned.

“I live for spicy,” I grinned.

I picked up my bowl, quickly digging in. Food was more than welcome right now.

-----x-----

“It’s getting late and it’s still storming out,” I groaned.

I just wanted it to stop long enough to get home. I didn’t want one of the boys losing their bed to me.

“You’re more than likely going to have to stay here,” Lay spoke from beside me, “And you can have my bed.”

I shook my head.

“No. You keep your bed. I can sleep on the couch.”

I tried to sound assertive, but I think I failed.

“No.”

This time it was Sehun that spoke. I frowned at him and crossed my arms, pushing myself farther into the back of the couch.

“Why won’t you guys just let me have the couch?” I mumbled.

“She’s even cute when she’s complaining,” Chen cooed.

A few of the boys “aww”ed, making me blush and pout, turning my head away from them.

“I’m being serious,” I grumbled.

As if on cue, a flash of lightning illuminated the room and I jolted forward a bit, startled.

“That is one of the reasons why you’re not sleeping out here by yourself,” Kyungsoo explained.

“It can’t storm all night,” I murmured, “I’ll be fine.”

A moment of silence passed as the thunder rumbled through the sky over the house.

“I have an idea!”

Suddenly Chanyeol was jumping over the boys who sat on the ground, launching up the stairs. After a few moments of curious mutterings and waiting, he reappeared with his arms full of pillows and a couple blankets.

“Let’s all sleep in the living room and protect Lilah!”

The excitement in his voice and the broad grin on his face made me smile. He looked like a child in that moment and I laughed. The boys hopped up excitedly, loving the idea. One by one they all appeared with pillows and blankets, helping each other move the couches and coffee table as far out of the way as possible. Surprisingly enough it looked as though everyone was going to fit somewhere.

Somewhere along the lines of finding myself a spot I accidentally swung a pillow over my shoulder, smacking Baekhyun with it. He immediately retaliated, and I ducked. He threw his pillow and hit Kris with it. It was war from there. Kris lunged toward Baekhyun, missing him and hitting Suho. Suho hit Kris back and Baekhyun rushed for me again. I side stepped him and he bumped into Chanyeol, who was ready and waiting for him. I watched as the chaos ensued. It wasn’t long before Baekhyun got his revenge on me, though.

After a while we all settled down and found our places on the floor, deciding to continue the Hunger Games series of movies with Catching Fire. The storm outside worsened slightly, my anxiety moving along with it. I forced myself into the movie again, Lay and Baekhyun doing all they could beside me to distract me from the monster outside. I thought about the past few hours. A new form of happiness filled me as I thought about the way they were all going out of their way to make sure I was comfortable.

I definitely fell asleep with a smile on my face.