She could hear his movements, he had gone right past her door just moments ago. But she could only lay there, hugging her pillow and biting down on her lip. What else was she meant to do? There was so much pent up frustration towards them all, she couldn't just welcome him back with open arms and a kiss. But she couldn't leave him outside, knocking on her door forever, because she knew the old Zelo was stubborn enough to do that, and if he hadn't changed, he would do the same if she hadn't let him in. She was glad he hadn't tried to open the door to her room. She was too scared to look at him, to take in that this was actually happening and he had brought himself back to try and fit into her life again, she wanted to fight him off, but she had missed him. 

The sun was about to go down, she still hadn't heard from Soo Young, but then again Soo Young was probably waiting for her to make contact with her first.

But she didn't want to pick up the phone and talk, because she didn't know what she was supposed to say, if she was meant to act like everything was ok, or tell her that there was another person in the house with her. Hope couldn't take the despair in the house, she tried hiding under her blanket, hugging her pillow close and forcing her eyes shut, but she couldn't avoid it, it was looming with a type of tension that plagued the whole house, waiting for the moment they would come face to face before it would intensify. There was a tight ache in Hope's chest that had her wincing, a hand coming up to rub the area over her heart, nothing was feeling right. She tossed and she turned. Even long after the sun had gone down, she still lay awake, unable to fall asleep knowing that Zelo was in the house.

Her tears had not long dried, but at the least they had stopped and dried away, leaving her with red and puffy eyes that she covered with the palm of her hands, letting out a deep and frustrated breath. This was something that couldn't be avoided forever, she would have to confront him eventually or he would lose his patience and find her to confront her, which she didn't want. Hope took her hands away from her eyes, they were watering again, she could feel it happening as she stared at her ceiling, gripping the sheets of her bed tightly, she was scared. But she had to do something. So she sat up, slowly removing the covers as she looked at her door. She padded towards it, turning the handle and pulling it open so that she could step out into the hall. She shut the door again, looking down at the handle and taking in a breath.

"Oh" Feet padding against the stairs made her look away from the door and Zelo paused in his movements, looking at Hope in surprise, his lips falling apart and his eyes blinking as they met eyes for the first time.

"Hello Hope" Zelo greeted in a soft voice, upon seeing her he had to suddenly grip the handrail and pray his knees stayed strong enough to keep him standing, he didn't know what the feeling washing over him was, but when there was a squeeze in his chest all he knew was that it caused an ache.

"Sorry" Zelo shook his head, looking down awkwardly at his feet, not knowing what to say now that she was here in front of him again, he had gathered that she was some sort of mix of angry and sad, and that made him uncomfortable to think about.

"You," He briefly looked up, his eyes taking in the colour of her hair and everything else, she had grown up.

"You've got new hair" He stated in a quiet voice.

"I dyed it" Hope took a moment to respond, to tell Zelo it was in fact still the same hair that she grew herself.

"Oh, I see" Zelo nodded, looking up and then away again.

"Your stuff is in there" Hope pointed to the door of the old office and Zelo nodded, taking the last steps up the stairs and Hope opened the door to her room again.

"I'll get the key" Before he could pass by her, she was in the room and moving towards her desk, opening a drawer to pull out the key. Zelo shuffled to the door and standing in front of it, his fingers fiddling with the material of his shirt in a desperate need for a wash, or to be thrown out. Hope approached him with a key in her hand, looking down towards the keyhole and avoiding his stare. She could feel the way he was suddenly towering over her more than she remembered him to and she didn't know he could grow, but she tried not to think about it and focus on actually unlocking the door.

The door creaked open and Zelo poked his head in. Hope had said that his things would be in here, but he couldn't believe that there was so much stuff in the room, he didn't think they had left so much behind. He weaved his way through boxes, all shut with labels on them, as if she were ready to move out and was only taking this room of things with her when she did leave.

"Youngjae, Himchan, Jongup" Zelo mumbled out the names, reading the labels on the boxes his eyes scanned over.

"EXO... EXO?" He frowned, but Hope wasn't too excited to have him in the house right now, he didn't want to make her angry by opening the box to see what was in it when she probably didn't want him snooping.

"Zelo!" Zelo breathed out in relief when he found a corner of boxes with his name on them. He sat down on the wooden floor, just wanting to find some clean clothes that he could change into.

"You know where the shower is, your clothes are there somewhere so go get cleaned up" Hope walked away from the room, leaving the door and letting the light shine out into the hallway. Zelo looked over his shoulder, seeing that she had left and he found himself sighing sullenly.

"A comeback is a comeback Zelo" He opened each box until he found one that held clothes in them, he picked out the first jacket and pair of pants he could find, satisfied with them as he left the room to head to the shower.

------------

Hope looked away from her swinging legs and to the tub of strawberries she was holding, losing her appetite for them. Hope shook her head, putting the lid back on the container and jumping down from the bench. She put the strawberries back in the fridge, rubbing her hands as she left the kitchen and slowly made her way up the stairs. The door to that room was was still open with the light still on and Hope bit down on her lower lip, not having anything to say when she approached, crossing her arms and leaning on the doorframe, watching Zelo.

Zelo opened one of the boxes with his name on it, finding his things in there that he had almost forgotten about even existing. He searched through the boxes as Hope watched from the doorway to the room, not stepping in further. Things were sprawled across the floor, the boxes becoming more empty as Zelo pulled things out of them. His hand touched a small box, not recognising the item when it met his line of vision, he frowned pulling the lid up and blinking. He pinched the silver chain, picking the necklace up and putting it in front of him. Hope could feel her heart squeeze at the sight of the necklace, a feeling she thought would have passed by now.

Hope + Zelo

“You don’t wear it?” His tone was sad as he spoke, disappointed by the information and Hope uncrossed her arms from in front of her chest and stood up straight shrugging and looking away from the hurt in Zelo’s eyes that were blinkin