"Hey, Henry-" Eric stopped speaking when he saw a girl dart out of Henry's bathroom and head to the bedroom wrapped only in a towel. 

He gaped with his mouth open and pointed. "Who was that?" 

Henry ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He'd been feeling lonely, even though he and Amber spoke more, she was busy a lot, working on her own projects, hanging out with a different crowd of friends. A girl had approached him in a club the previous night, and he'd just gone for it, enjoyed listening to hear and having her listen too.

"It's a girl, okay. I didn't really get her name. We both had fun, that's all." 

"What if Amber finds out?" Eric gasped. 

Henry rolled his eyes. "She won't care." While they were friends and had discussed the possibility of a relationship, something about Amber had changed. He had no idea what it was, but she just didn't seem to think of him the same way anymore. He hadn't asked, he was too scared to. Plus, he was starting to think she was dating someone again. 

"Dude, are you sure?" Eric clasped his shoulder, but Henry shook him off. 

"Can we just work on the song?"

The mysterious girl stepped out of Henry's room, fully clothed now and makeup properly in place. She must've carried a pretty good kit with her because she looked flawless. She fluffed her hair and strolled toward the two. "I left my number on your bedside table in case you ever want to do this again." 

Henry pulled her into a side hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks for being a good listener." 

She nodded and patted his cheek. "Same. Bye." 

She strolled out the door, heels clicking against the linoleum of the hallway. 

"What if she-" 

"We just fooled around a bit and talked," Henry snapped, exasperated. Thinking about Amber possibly being in a relationship again put him in a bad mood. "We just needed each other for a night. Can you let it go?!" 

Eric put up his hands and shrugged. "Fine. It's gone. Let's work on that song." 

It felt good being busy. No time for thought. No time for feelings. Except at night...when it was quiet...and she was alone. 

She hated that she was so sensitive. She wanted to be stronger. She wanted to care just a little bit less, have skin that was just a little bit thicker. 

"Oh, no," Krystal said, walking around the corner of the studio and spotting Amber sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped tight around them. 

"What happened?" 

"Nothing. I'm just tired of hearing it, but I don't want to change. I don't want to hate myself...I don't-" 

Krystal pulled Amber into a tight hug. This tended to happen in the lull between Amber's scheduling slowing down and preparing for a comeback with her group when she didn't have as much time to hang out with her friends in the empty spaces of the day. 

"You ever think about getting therapy?" 

Amber scowled at her. "I'm not the one who needs therapy. They are. They judge me without knowing me, they shout at me, they scold me, they attack me-" her voice caught in and Krystal just held her close. 

"I'm sorry. What happened?" 

"A woman accused me of wanting to harass her daughter in the bathroom. I was just passing her some tissue through the stall and then this big purse lands on my shoulder-"

"The injured one?" Krystal asked quickly. One of Amber's shoulders had an old injury that had flared up again with the stress of some of the shows she'd been on in the past few months. Amber had been in so much pain she'd had to quit one and she knew that affected Amber too. She hated quitting. 

"Yeah." 

"Oh god. Did you see a doctor?" She asked, tugging at the neck of Amber's t-shirt until her shoulder was exposed, looking angry and purple in the light of the dance studio. "Amber..." she gasped softly. 

"We need to practice, there's no time." 

"But-" 

Amber bent forward, shocking Krystal when she kissed her. "Thanks for always caring about me, SooJung," she said, resting their foreheads together. "But I'm good. Better now. The shoulder will heal eventually. I'll take care of it after our promotions, I promise."

"And what about your mind? And your heart? When are you going to take care of those?" 

The older girl just shook her head, then took Krystal's face between her palms. She kissed her more deeply, desperately almost. 

"I-...why don't you do this with Henry? You know how I feel about you. Being cruel to me won't make what someone else did to you any better." 

Amber tugged at her hair and said softly. "Because I know that you want me and you won't hurt me..."

"Henry wouldn't hurt you." 

"Not on purpose...no..." Amber said, avoiding her eyes. "But I see how he looks at other girls with longer legs, better figures, bigger s, longer hair...the comments he makes-" 

"If you told him how it makes you feel, I'm sure-" 

Amber cut her off. "You might be sure, but I'm not. I can't risk it. Or maybe I just don't want to risk it. I don't know if I could take it if we ever got together and then he made some offhand comment that cut me in half." She pressed a hand over her heart. "I can take it while we're friends, but if I ever give my whole heart to him..." 

Krystal blew out a breath. "Yeah. I get it. Friendships and relationships are two completely different things. Like I can take you being a tiny bit of an to me right now because we've made no promises to each other, although it'd be really nice if you didn't get my hopes up." 

"Sorry," Amber whispered. 

Krystal looked her over and shook her head. "I'm the stupid one for not actually minding that you want to rely on me like this even though I know I should tell you not to. I want you to kiss me. I know you're not going to suddenly fall for me or something, so I'm the one being a masochist when I ask you to kiss me again." 

"What?" 

"Please?" 

Amber cradled the back of her head and pulled her in for another kiss, this one gentle and slow. Krystal sighed and melted against her. She spoke with her eyes closed. "It's so nice to just feel good every once in a while." 

Amber massaged the firm muscle between Krystal's neck and shoulder. "Crappy day?" 

"Never as crappy as yours, it seems, but I can't even remember why it was bad right," she chuckled. "We should unwind like this more often." 

Amber's hands were blazing a small trail of heat against the skin of her neck and shoulder. She had to bite her lip not to make a sound. She turned her head for another kiss, knowing that Amber only wanted to feel good and feel good about herself for a little while, but it's not like Krystal was getting nothing out of this. She knew that while she was into Amber, she could move on if she had to. She just didn't want to quite yet. It's not like there was anyone or anything for her to move on to anyway. What harm could it do?

She pulled Amber to her and ran her hands under the muscular girl's shirt. "Damn," she whispered. "You've been really working out." 

Amber laughed. "Well, I can't really do anything about my arms until my shoulder heals, so I figured I'd focus on my abs." 

Krystal tickled the skin right beneath Amber's belly button. "I like it. Feels good." Her eyes glinted mischievously as she dragged her fingertips upward, nearing the dip of Amber's ribcage. 

Amber narrowed her eyes as if daring her to go higher, but they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat in the doorway. They sprung apart, hearts racing at being caught at what they were doing, wondering what all the person might have seen, but both breathed a little easier when they saw the person standing in the doorway of the studio was Henry. 

"Sorry, I forgot I was going to listen to your demo before practice started," Amber huffed. "I'll see you back here in a bit," she said to Krystal with a smile. The girl winked cheekily at her causing Amber to roll her eyes. "You're a bad influence." 

Henry didn't think he could catch his breath. He struggled with trying to act normal, that he hadn't seen what he'd seen. They'd been kissing, right? And touching each other...

He shook his head. He didn't have a right to judge or complain since he'd been doing much more with a strange girl just the night before, but seeing confirmation that Amber was doing these things with another person was like a punch to the gut. He'd sort of been able to live with the hypothetical idea of her being in a relationship...but seeing it with his own eyes...

"This one's good," Amber said, breaking him out of his thoughts when she slammed her hands down on his shoulders. "Use it. I gotta get back." 

Henry grabbed her hand before she could leave and pulled her into a close hug. He wanted to ask her if he'd missed his chance somehow. He wanted to confess it'd felt like cheating when he'd been with that girl the other night. He wanted to tell her she looked good today in her snapback and graphic tee, but he said and did none of those things. 

"Call me tomorrow night?" he asked instead. If he ever wanted them to be together, they needed to talk and spend time together. "Or come over, I'll make you dinner." 

She smiled and pulled away from him. "I'd like that. See you then." 

He sighed, watching her walk away, finally figuring out that if he wanted her, he probably couldn't just sit around and wait for her to come to him. She'd already admitted that she'd consider a relationship with him, although that was ages ago now and might not still apply, but he realized he'd been an idiot between then and now letting her slip through his fingers. If he wasn't careful, he'd stay her friend forever. It was a nice place to be, but not a place he wanted to be in forever. 

Then and there, Henry decided he'd finally listen to his dad's advice on actually pursuing a woman rather than his pastor's advice which was just to pray until the right one just fell into your lap.