"Judgments prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances" - Wayne Dyer.

"The court date is coming up" Minah hummed in acknowledgement. Sehun the couch to face her.

"Do you think you're ready?"Minah breathed in, holding the breath in before letting it fall back out.

"I don't think I have a choice anymore" Minah pulled her legs closer to her chest and Sehun rose an eyebrow.

"It's getting close, and even if I wanted to, no one will let me run away from it" Her fingers looped and twisted around each other and Sehun nodded.

"Because you can do this, it's the right thing to do for your life"

"Hm" Minah looked down and Sehun breathed out, unable to settle in the silence.

"Is it scary"

"So scary" Minah nodded with a distant look in her eyes.

"It's been my life for as long as I've been with him, he was meant to be my first love, the one that was doing everything with my best interest in mind. And now coming to terms with none of the past couple years being real is hard. Some mornings I wake up, cold because I kicked the sheets off in the middle of the night and my mind tricks me into thinking he had thrown me out into the living room in the middle of the night again because he needed peace before he had to get up early for work and my breathing was too loud in the next room over. Looking at Baekhyun with you and the others, I realise how much the relationship was changing me without me even realising it," Minah chuckled bitterly as her vision blurred with tears that threatened to fall.

"I think when someone's controlling you and manipulating you, there's no choice but to change until you can get away from it, and when you're being manipulated you don't always notice until it's gone on for so long and so far that it's become dangerous to the life of someone" Sehun shared his thoughts and Minah sniffled when her head bobbed.

"When I first met Damon in high school, I was making all the mums in town mad because the other kids at school knew I loved to cut hair. I would practice on my friends when their hair grew out and they wanted to do something daring, then people noticed and started coming to me, willing to charge a small fee and tell others, I would do my friends makeup and the same happened there. Making friends was easily done, especially when it was a friendship made doing something I enjoyed so much. When we started dating, he made me stop and instead of cutting hair on the rooftop or an empty classroom, I had to go out and get a real job, he said he wanted us to be mature, save up for the future and stuff so that we were ahead of the others at school. And then I wasn't allowed to touch him if I had done anyone's makeup because it would get glitter on him. Once I stopped cutting peoples hair and doing their makeup for them, people were confused that I was doing it because of Damon, but I was so sure he was doing it for my sake, to help me grow up, it's safe to say they had stopped being my friends pretty quickly, because I did everything for Damon's sake, to make him happy with us being together. It made him happy when we were making changes, growing up and following what he wanted, I just wanted to be able to keep that smile of satisfaction there"

"They never asked why?"

"They just got confused at first, I tried to explain it to them. I would tell them how Damon is helping me become a better person, helping me achieve goals I didn't even know I had, eventually they just stopped asking, then they stopped talking to me" Minah shrugged her shoulders.

"But seeing Baekhyun with you guys, it made me realise I had lost all my friends and I should have cared more for them, about our friendships. Because now I've lost them and I have more potential friends, but I don't know how to be their friend when I hardly know what they look like, how tall they are or what they like. Because I can't look up anymore and I can't ask them questions because I can't go near them"

"What? No, you're doing so well, they think you're great and they understand that you're in a bit of a situation right now that's gonna take time for you to heal from"

"Show me a picture and have me tell you which one I'm looking at, I know the top of Kyungsoo's head like the back of my hand, Minseok has cheeks that look soft and Chanyeol is the only other person I can list the features of besides you"

"He's also someone who can scoop you up in his arms without making you scream bloody murder" Sehun pointed out and Minah swallowed.

"You're spending too much time looking back at the past" Sehun pointed out.

"Doesn't everyone do that?"

"I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now" Sehun shrugged, smiling at the reaction it evoked from Minah.

"Never, ever do I want to hear you call me that again"

"Oh, but it has a nice ring to it" Sehun mockingly tried to persuade her, lips smirking as she shivered in disgust.

"It really doesn't" 

"I think it does"

"And I think it doesn't, let's stop these talks, it brings the worst out in you" Minah turned away from Sehun as he let out a snort, chuckling with his hand on his stomach.

"But this was such a good bonding experience for us" He made another point delightfully and Minah cringed.

"Shut up now"

"Let's keep going, we should make this a weekly thing where we have a bonding experience. How do Tuesday's sound to you? It works for me"

"I'll go find Baekhyun if you don't shut your mouth now"

"We were making progress though! Look at you sharing your feelings and all the extra baggage you come with"

"I might just kick you out of this house" Minah snatched the remote off the coffee table and turned the volume back up on the TV.

"I finally saw emotion in your eyes!"

"Wow, you really get a kick out of peoples misery huh? This is the happiest I've ever seen you" Minah commented on the perkiness of the male on the couch with her and Sehun waved her off.

"You're trusting people, I may be bitter, pessimistic, rude, arrogant and whatever but I want you to do well"

"Keep going" Minah turned to look at Sehun, finally pulling a smile as the tears went away, knowing there wouldn't be any crying done.

"Huh?"

"Keep going, you know you're more than bitter, pessimistic, rude and arrogant, it's good to hear you admitting it" Minah blinked, nodding her head encouragingly.

"That's all you got out of that?" Sehun glared at Minah as his face dropped.

"Thanks for noticing my achievements and wanting for me to keep improving healthily, I appreciate it. Now you can carry on"

"I'm not admitting anything more than what I just did"

"Shame, there was still so many words you could have said" Minah turned back to the TV as she shrugged.

"Maybe I will leave"

"Ok bye" Minah waved without taking her eyes off the TV and Sehun grumbled, shimmying down on the cushions of the couch, kicking his feet up with no plans to move.

"Rude" He cast one look at Minah and rolled his eyes, focusing back on the TV.

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"Are you ready for the court date?"

"Hm?" Minah blinked owlishly as she looked over to Chanyeol.

"Sehun said the court date is coming up soon, he was asked to attend" He explained and Minah nodded.

"Yeah, it is. He was able to give evidence, so they've asked him to give his statement in the courtroom as well" Chanyeol's head bobbed and he cleared his throat as Minah put her hands back in the sink, washing the dishes under the cover of the bubbles from the dish soap.

"You have our support," Minah looked up at Chanyeol as her hands stopped moving again.

"Even if we can't attend the court dates, you will have our support" Chanyeol spoke promisingly and Minah swallowed.

"I'll be there for you~" Yixing entered the kitchen with Jongdae looped around him.

"When the rain starts to fall!"

"You pair of es!" Minseok hooted from the living room.

"There goes that" Chanyeol sighed and Minah smiled, looking back down to hide how her cheeks were going pink. She scrubbed at the dishes and bit down on her lip, forcing the smile back down as she cleared quietly.

"We just wanted to give our two cents"

"Yeah, let Minah that we're here too" Jongdae nodded with his arms holding tightly onto Yixing.

"What about