I woke up to a pounding headache and sunlight pouring in through the window. 

The pain in my head was so unbearable that I almost screamed. I got out of bed and staggered toward my bags, searching through the pockets for the bottle of advil I had brought. Then I went into the bathroom, sore everywhere, and downed four of them before collapsing back into my bed. 

Holy . What had happened last night? I remembered everything in fuzzy detail up until Kris had laid me on the bed.

What had happened?

I began to cry uncontrollably. How far had he gone before stopping and realizing I wasn’t in the right state of mind? That was not how I wanted my first time to go. Had it even been my first time? Had we done that much? I needed answers.

But first, I needed something else.

I to my side and picked up my phone from the bedside table, unplugging it from the charger. I found his contact and called, managing to make out a full sentence between sobs. Then I hung up, rolling back over so that I faced the wall. Two minutes later, there was a knock on my door and I managed to get up, unlock it, and open it with tears fogging up my eyes and pain coursing through my body. 

Tao took one look at me and stepped into the room, wrapping me in the warmest, biggest hug I had ever received. I clenched my eyes shut and cried even harder, drenching his white shirt. He rubbed my back softly. After a few minutes, he pulled away from me and opened his mouth as if to say something, but then shut it as if changing his mind. The door closed and he led me back over to the bed, laying down next to me and my tangled hair as I calmed down.

“What’s wrong?” he said at last, propping himself up on his elbow to look at me better. I looked into his eyes; the dark circles that were normally under his eyes were even more pronounced this morning, without a doubt because of the night before.

“Do you remember anything from last night?” I asked him. Please remember saying you loved me, I begged in my mind. Please don’t forget. 

He shook his head.

My face fell.

“Why? Did I do something bad?” he asked quickly.

“No. Not you. Someone else might have, though,” I said easily. 

He sat up, eyebrows furrowed. “Who?”

I sighed. It was better to tell him the truth now to avoid getting into future fights, wasn’t it?

“When we left the elevator, Kris took me into my room and something happened. I don’t remember what, because I was drunk. I honestly don’t know anything other than… he took his shirt off, and then mine. I don’t remember anything after that.”

Tao stood abruptly, clearly angry again. I stood as well, looking into his face. “Calm down. We were all drunk. It’s nobody’s fault.”

“Yes, it is,” Tao growled. “Kris has always been manipulative, but I had no idea he would do that to the girl I like.”

“He was trying to protect me from you,” I said quietly. 

“What?”

“He told me that you were a narcissist, and that you didn’t care about anyone except yourself.”

Tao’s face went red. He made his way towards the door, but I ran and put my arms up in front of it so that he couldn’t leave. “Luna, move,” he said, his face stone cold and unmoving.

“Listen to me,” I said, putting my hands on his face. “You said you were never gonna hurt me again. So calm down. Let me go get Luhan, we’ll tell him what’s happening. He’s good at handling this stuff.”

Something in his expression softened, and he nodded. I opened the door and went into the hall quickly, shutting it behind me and praying that Tao wouldn’t leave. Then I ran around the corner and into the hall where Luhan and Yixing were staying.

Only to come face to face with Kris.

I froze in my tracks and we held eye contact for a second. Then I quickly regained my senses and knocked on Luhan’s door, doing my best to pay no attention to Kris. 

“Luna, I...” he began, but Yixing opened the door before Kris could say anything else.

I ignored Kris completely and spoke to Yixing instead. “Tao needs Luhan, now. It’s urgent.” I saw Kris’s face fall out of the corner of my eye when he heard Tao’s name. Luhan came from around the corner and saw the expression on my face, distressed and anxious. His hair was still wet from a shower, and he frowned slightly; then nodded and followed me back towards my room.

To my relief, Tao had kept his word and was still there, sitting on the edge of my bed. Luhan came in and felt the pissed off vibes immediately, going to Tao’s side. “What happened?” he asked.

“Kris betrayed me,” Tao said. “He took advantage of Luna while she was drunk, behind my back.”

Luhan groaned and put his head in his hands. “What is wrong with you guys? How hard is it to avoid drama with girls for a single night?” He said quietly. Then he faced me. “I apologize, on behalf of both Kris and Tao, from the bottom of my heart. They have both been horrible to you, and that changes from now on.” 

I had never seen Luhan’s beautiful face so serious.

“At least I didn’t go that far!” Tao exclaimed defensively. 

Luhan furrowed his eyebrows. “What, physically hurting her? Isn’t that what you did in the hall after we called EXO?”

Tao’s face fell. “I apologized for that!”

“You still did it though,” I pointed out. 

Silence. Tao looked down at the floor.

Luhan checked his watch. “It’s 11:30. We’re meeting in the lobby at twelve to go out to lunch. It’s on me. We clearly need to do some team bonding to incorporate Luna into our team.”

“Will Kris come?” Tao and I asked at the same time.

“Yes,” Luhan replied. “And Tao, I’m temporarily taking over your position as leader while you and Kris sort this out. There can’t be any hard feelings within the team.”

Tao exhaled harshly and nodded, clearly annoyed at Luhan’s logic.

“See you later this afternoon.” Then Luhan left the room.

After a few moments of silence, I spoke up. “I need to take a shower. You should go get dressed as well.”

Tao look sideways at me with his bold eyes. Then he sighed defeatedly and stood up, heading to the door as well. He stopped right before he was about to leave and looked back at me. “Luna?”

“Yes?”

“Can I pick you up from your room on my way down?”

I gave him a smile and felt my heart open a little bit. I walked over to him until I was just a little bit too close and nodded, getting on my toes to kiss his cheek softly. Then his cheeks flushed slightly and he left the room.