Amber leaned her cheek against Henry's shoulder as he played his new song for her. A few days had passed, and though her shoulder no longer pained her unless she was active, Gongju's illness had returned more fiercely than before and she already knew her baby probably wasn't going to get better this time. Now all she was left wondering was 'how long'.

"You weren't paying attention, were you?" Henry asked softly.

"Sorry. Gongju..."

He reached up and ruffled her hair. "I know." He looked around his apartment, pretty silent and empty when Amber wasn't there. "You want me to walk you back?"

She shook her head and pressed more closely to him. "Nah. I'll just stay the night."

"I'll get the sheets for the guest room-"

"Can I just stay in your room...with you?"

She didn't look at him when she asked, her gaze running over the perfectly gleaming keys of Henry's piano.

"I've spent the past few days hovering over her, scared that anytime she falls asleep this will be it." She scrubbed a hand over tired, drooping brown eyes. "I can't do that again tonight. We have practice and I can't afford to be unfocused."

Henry squeezed the back of her neck gently. "Okay. Kay." He put on a smile and a cheerful tone. "Let me play my song for you again, and this time, focus."

______________________________________________________________________________

"Hey," Luna whispered when Amber walked into the dance studio. She wrapped her small, but strong arm around Amber's back and pulled her close. "You doing okay?"

Amber puffed out her cheeks to hold in a sigh. Last night had been a welcome reprieve from the stress of worrying for one of her puppies. That single question brought both her worry and her werriness back.

"I'll be fine. Gongju's still okay, so I'm still okay." She smiled as much as she could then darted off to put her practice bag on the floor and get warmed up.

"Amber!" Krystal exclaimed in surprise, putting her thins down next to Amber's and joining her on the floor. "Where were you? We went by to pick you up and you weren't home. Were you out for a run?" She asked, glancing over Amber as if to find some evidence of it. "We called but you didn't answer. We got worried."

Amber grimaced an apology. "Sorry. I forgot to update you guys. I stayed at Henry's and just took a cab over. Hope manager-nim didn't get into any trouble."

Krystal pulled out her phone and quickly texted him to let him know Amber was okay and already at practice. 

"Having to reorganize the choreography is always so much more annoying than having to learn a new one," Krystal complained, stretching her feet out in front of her and leaning forward to grab her toes."

Amber nodded in agreement. It was hard to keep straight all the different formations they'd gone through over the years. They'd tripped over one another more than once.

"I'll just be glad when this is over," Amber said, rotation her middle then extending each leg. "I have this weird exhaustion that I just can't seem to get rid of."

 Krystal eyed her friend, noting the dark circles under her eyes. "Were you not able to get much sleep at...at Henry's?" She asked nervously. She knew they were just friends but always worried one day they would take it a step further. There were plenty of thins a man and a woman could be doing other than sleeping. Henry was a nice enough guy, but there was something so immature about him still.

"I slept fine. It's just..." She shook her head. "Anyway. I'm excited to go to London. An old friend I haven't seen in a while is there. We plan to go biking so he can show me the sights."

The younger girl grimaced. Amber seemed to have friends everywhere and always seemed she'd rather spend time with them than her.

She nibbled her lower lip in an effort to rid herself of the jealousy, but it just grew. She knew that if she continued to try and bury what she felt for Amber it had the potential to ruin everything the group had been working towards. Krystal had trouble being near Amber without wanting to touch her and being away from her without obsessing over who Amber might be with or if she might be thinking of her at all.

Amber seemed completely oblivious to her struggles as she continued to work out the kinks of her body. What would you do if you knew? Krystal wondered, watching the muscles flex in Amber's arms. What would you do if you knew what I was thinking right now? Would you laugh? Never speak to me again? 

"Hey, Amber!"

The girls turned their heads as Henry sprinted into their practice room. He dropped down in front of Amber and pushed her glasses onto her face. "You left these." He squished her cheeks and mussed her hair. "Pabo."

Amber crinkled her nose in annoyed affection. "Thanks," she said. "But I was probably gonna head right back over fter practice anyway and I don't really need them right now."

"Fine," Henry said, plucking them back off her face, causing Amber to laugh. "I'll see you tonight then."

"I'm bringing Gongju."

"You know my bed's big enough for all of us," he said with a wink before giving her shoulder a friendly push and darting from the room.

Krystal felt all the blood drian from her face. Did that...that mean what she thought it meant?...

"You've been in Henry's bed?" She asked, unable to help the way her lip curled. 

"I just needed to be away from the worry over Gongju for a while."

"But, he has a spare bedroom, doesn't he?" Krystal insisted.

Amber sighed. "Listen, Krys. I don't want to talk about it, okay. Henry and I've known each other for a long time and he just gets me. Okay?"

"We've been friends a long time, too..."

"It's just different," Amber said, getting to her feet. 

Krystal stood as well. "Yeah? And you wanna know why it is? Because you always treat me like I can't handle anything more difficult than what we should eat for lunch or me telling you about my day."

"You haven't -"

"I don't have to have lived through something in order to understand it," Krystal snapped. "Or at least try to. Stop treating me like I'm made out of glass!"

Amber smirked, clearly unable to see how upset her friend actually was. "Thought you were made from crystal."

Krystal rolled her eyes so hard she nearly sprained a muscle. "You always do this when I want to have a serious conversation with you."

"Sorry."

If anything, it only made Krystal more angry. "And don't give me those halfhearted apologies just because you think it's what I want to hear. You're saying it with a face like you think I'm being silly or you can't really understand why I'm mad."

Amber, feeling completely blindsided could only nod.

"Jesus, Amber!" she hissed. "I want you to treat me like your friend. Your real friend. Not like one of the hundreds you've got swirling around you, never knowing more than where you're skating or that you're traveling somewhere. You tell Henry everything."

"There are some things about me that I just don't want everyone to know," Amber clipped out, looking across the studio to see that everyone else were still stretching. She tried to reign in her temper. "There are some things I just don't want to talk about over and over again. Can't you understand that?"

Krystal folded her arms in front of her thin waist and shook her head. She was done dancing around this issue. Tired of being in the same category as nearly dozens of Amber's other friends and whatever had happened between Henry and Amber pushed her over the edge. 

"No," she said. "I can't understand that. I want to know more-" she stepped closer. "I want to be more."

She took Amber's hand in hers and squeezed it lightly. "Please?"

Amber pulled her hand away, unsure how she could ever fully unburden herself to the younger girl. "I'll think about it," she said quietly.

Krystal nodded, thankful for even that.

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