“Thanks for inviting us Civannnah. This place is awesome!” Lucas spoke as he and Taeyong came from their shared room, earning him a nudge from Taeyong. “And your parents are really nice too.”

“It’s fine Taeyong.” Civannah laughed. “My mom always says the more the merrier. And since Katrina’s family isn’t coming this year there’s plenty of space for you guys.”

“How come they aren’t coming?” Ten asked coming from his room, followed by Jongin,Baekhyun, and Taemin.

“Katrina’s parents got divorced and they really only came for Katrina. Katrina’s dad might come tomorrow with his wife and daughter though.”

“If I was Katrina, sick or not, I wouldn’t have come. How awkward is that going to be for her.” Taeyong spoke.

“Yeah…” Civannah hummed, drifting off into thought. 

“So what’s the plan for the night?” Baekhyun asked, bringing Civannah out of her thoughts. 

“I was going to go stay with Katrina tonight. It’s kind of a tradition since we’ve always been the only girls. Although Stephanie, Kaia and my cousin Sydney are here.You guys are more than welcome to come though.”

“They have plans already.” Changmin announced, coming out of his and Civannah’s room, hair still wet. 

“What plans?” Taeyong asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” Changmin said before kissing Civannah on the cheek. “Have a good night with the girls babe. I’m going to steal Taemin and Jongin for a while, will you guys be okay?”

“Since Mark is still napping, I think we’ll be okay.” Lucas spoke.

“I think that makes me more worried.” Changmin laughed, pushing Taemin and Jongin towards the back deck.

“I’m going to head out. If you guys need anything just call.”

“Don’t worry about anything and just have a good time with your friends.”

“Thanks.” Civannah said, sliding on her book bag purse and heading out the door. 

“Alright, now that they’re gone. Here’s the real plan.” Taeyong said, clapping his hands.

Out on the back deck

“Dude it’s freezing out here!” Jongin complained. 

“And you’re gonna catch a cold.” Taemin added.

“Good to see you can both put your differences aside to nag me about my health.” Changmin laughed as Jongin and Taemin gave him stern looks. 

“Look. I brought you guys out here because I don’t want any drama on this trip. This trip is very important.” 

“We get it. It’s your first time around her family, I atleast will be on my best behavior.” Jongin said, earning a scoff from Taemin. 

“See! This is exactly what I don’t want.” Changmin yelled, walking back inside and shutting the door behind him. 

“See what you did…” Taemin said, rolling his eyes. 

“Like you were any better.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“You don’t say much do you?!”

“Way to be mature Jongin.” Taemin said walking to the door only for it to not open.

“Move. I’m sure you just didn’t pull hard enough.” Jongin stated before pulling the door handle and it to still not move. 

“I’m not opening the door until you guys talk things out.” Changmin said from behind the locked door.

“Dude this isn’t funny.” Jongin yelled.

“Neither is ending your friendship. You can either talk things out and come in or jump off the deck into the snow and come back in the back door.” 

“You can’t leave me out here with him.”

“But I can. And don’t worry i’ll take good care of your phones in the meantime.” Changmin said, causing Jongin and Taemin to pat their pockets, looking for their phones. 

“Once again, you me over.”

“I didn’t you over, Jongin.”

“You knew I liked her. You did say a word!”

“She didn’t want me to! You think I wanted to hide this from you? She knew from the moment that Civannah asked her for help that I was searching for her, but she made up a story just because she didn’t want to meet me. Do you think I want to walk around telling people that the woman that I love more than life itself doesn’t want me? We spent one day together….One day that I have been holding onto for so long… but she doesn’t want me… do you know how embarrassing that is for me?”

“Can’t be more embarrassing than telling our entire group of friends how much I like her, planning a birthday party for her so I can confess only for me to not only be rejected but find out my best friend has been pursuing her behind my back. To have my friends text or call, even walk up to me and ask me how it went, and how they can't wait to meet her… I look like a fool…”

“I’m sorry…. When you showed me her for the first time, I told you to take good care of her. I meant it. I had every intention of letting her go.” 

“So what happened?”

“She seemed so oblivious to your feelings. I started getting more irritated seeing you together knowing that I still had a chance because I could see that she didn’t feel the same way as you…. A few days after she found out about your feelings I asked her to come visit me so I could play her a piece. I poured all my emotions into it and she felt it. I told her that I wouldn't rush her… i’ve waited two years for her Jongin and I don’t care how many more I have to wait because she’s the only one for me… I’m sorry if you hate me. I’m sorry I hid things from you, sorry that I went behind your back, but i’d do it all again if it meant that i’d have her.”

“I’m sorry too…. It took a while but it finally hit me. All my anger, it wasn’t because you loved Katrina too, but because we’d let a girl come between us. I guess that I really was infatuated. She became a good friend who treated me as Jongin and not Kai… I guess I mistook it for love…” Jongin said, walking towards Taemin and giving him a hug. “I’m sorry for not just talking to you and Katrina….I’m sure she hates me now.”

“You know how sensitive she is, she’s probably overthinking how to approach you…” Taemin said thoughtfully.

“Maybe… but hopefully I can use this trip to clear the air with her…. I really missed my friend.”

“Yeah… I miss her too.” 

“So what are you going to do?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Tae, you seriously can’t be this stupid. How are you going to get your girl back?”

“I’m not. I told her I'd wait and I mean it. I don’t want her to feel forced into being with me.”

“You're seriously an idiot. That girl is madly in love with you. Do you know that you’re so important to her that she decided to move back to the states to keep your reputation clean?”

“What do you mean clean?”

“Remember how we speculated that someone was likely threatening Katrina?” Jongin asked, earning a nod from Taemin that he did remember and to continue. “On the plane I helped Changmin and Civannah go through the recordings that Katrina took of her meetings, and I found who it was. No matter how much I hated you at the time, I knew I should tell you.”

“Who was it?” Taemin asked, feeling himself getting angry, but he wasn’t ready for the answer he got, that left him stunned. 

“It was Baekhyun….”

Katrina’s Cabin

“Are you sure you’re up for this? You should be resting…”

“I feel fine. Besides this is the most normalcy i've had in a while, even if it is for just one night.” Katrina said before she heard a knock on the door. “That must be Civ…”

Katrina left the girls in the living room and went to let Civannah in.

“Hey…” Civannah said awkwardly.

“Come in before you catch a cold too…” Katrina said and walked back to the living room.

“Hey.” Civannah said, dropping her bag on the coffee table. 

“Hey bun.” Stephanie smiled, patting the space net to her.

“I’m going to the bathroom…” Katrina said quietly, leaving the living room. 

“Come have a seat…” Stephanie sighed. 

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on with you and Katrina, nor do I want to know. You both need to just sit and clear the air. I’m not giving any excuses, but if her step family decides to show tomorrow….she’s going to need some support. Put in a little effort, hm? I know you're excited to have Changmin and his friends here, but remember your family.” Sydney said and stood up from the couch. “We’ll be going…”

“Going where?” Katrina questioned, coming back from the bathroom.

“To the kitchen to get some snacks ready” Stephanie laughed, moving to grab clueless Kaia and bring her along.

“So….”

“You don’t have to force yourself to talk to me. I’m sure you would rather spend your time with Changmin.” Katrina said, making herself comfortable in the love seat.

“Katrina….I think we should talk….”

“So talk…”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it when I said you're manipulative. I was just angry from holding in so much that I shouldn't have held in because I should have talked to you about it as soon as I had concerns.”

“Concerns that I was messing around with your boyfriend behind your back. Regardless of any misunderstandings, I would think that after so many years of knowing each other that you would have just come to me after the picture or the sound clip, whatever came first. I’ve never lied to you before, and I've never had a need to start.”

“I think that things changed for me after you came to Seoul. I was so excited and then finding out about you knowing Ryan, and you previously dating Matthew….. I just felt that I didn't know you as well as I thought….”

“I have my reasons… Embarrassment is one. As stupid as it sounds, I thought Matthew was the one. I met him in senior year when I went to visit the school. We met again one night at a party and it was history from there….” Katrina said, pulling her blanket closer.

“And then he cheated on you?”

“Right.” Katrina said, pulling two mugs from the cabinet. “Honestly there’s nothing he could say to make the situation okay...so I don't confront it. Depression twice is bad enough…”

“Once with when you found out he cheated and once when your parents divorced?” 

“You got one of them right…” Katrina said, placing a mug of hot chocolate in front of Civannah. “I’m sure you’ve seen the tension between Jongin and Taemin.”

“Yeah but I have no idea what happened..” Civannah said, looking outside thoughtfully.

“I happened.” Katrina said, causing Civannah look back at Katrina.

“How could it have been you? You were barely around Taemin…”

Katrina sighed and leaned against her knees. 

“I want you to remember that no matter what I tell you I never saw Jongin as more than a friend.” Katrina said and Civannah agreed. “So first you should know that i’m Fern.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“I’m Fern…. I met Taemin at Coachella the year we went. You guys wanted to get me out of my funk that came from Matthew, so we went. Even if it was for a short time, I wanted to forget about the life I was living as Katrina… So I said my name was Fern anytime someone asked… I remembered my mom saying that's what she wanted to name me so I figured let's see what kind of life Fern would have lived. I ended up meeting Taemin, not knowing who he was….. We had a really good time together, but I didn't want another situation, so I left before he woke up. I never thought in a million years that I would meet him again, let alone him looking for me. So I panicked when I realized it was me you were searching for, so I lied and came up with a story so the search would stop.” 

“Tri. I can’t believe you’ve been hiding this for so long, especially from me.”

“Everything happened so fast…. It was weird for me to feel something so differently towards Taemin that I never did Matthew. I was scared of feeling that feeling again….”

“So when you look at him… do you still feel those feelings?”

“Yeah… even after two years… they're stronger than ever… but it could never work for us, for me. I’m damaged Civannah. I won’t ruin his life. His career.”

“I know you’ve just dropped a ton on me, but one thing I know is that he cares deeply for you and you should give him the chance to choose. I remember at your party, he was drinking to numb the pain… I didn’t understand then but I know that he meant the pain of losing you to Jongin. And that’s my fault. I pushed Jongin in your direction thinking that you both got along so well…..”

“It’s fine. I probably would have done the same to you.”

“So will you use this trip to talk to them?” Civannah asked and received a nod from Katrina.

“I should talk with Jongin first.”

“I think i’m more interested in knowing what you’ll say to Taemin.”

“I don’t know what i’d say to him. There is one thing he needs to know. And I don’t want to tell him because I want him to feel bad, but for myself. I have a box of letters as a form of therapy to tell him back when I didn't think i’d see him again,but I think I should tell him so I can move on.”

“And what’s that?” Civannah asked curiously.

Katrina took a deep breath, seriously wondering if she could say it out loud for the first time.

“I was pregnant… but I had a miscarge a few months after finding out.”

“Finally.” Stephanie said before Sydney had a chance to cover .

“You guys can come join us.” 

“Thank god. Because the couch is so much more comfortable than squatting behind the wall to hear you guys whisper.” Kaia said, taking a seat on the couch beside Katrina’s love seat.

“Can we get back to the part where you had a miscarriage.” Civannah asked, focusing back on the new found information. 

“Taemin and I had . I got pregnant. I had a miscarriage. Katrina shrugged. “Not much else I can say.”

“How did you lose the baby?” Civannah asked softly.

“Her cervix opened too early…” Stephanie spoke for Katrina.

“I’d rather not relive it. Especially not when I’ll have to when I tell Taemin.” 

“So who is this Taemin guy? Is he famous like Changmin?” Sydney asked.

“Here!” Kaia said, passing Civannah’s phone over to Sydney. “I'm glad my ship didn’t sail, Taemin is amazing.”

“Kaia, you’ve never met him.”

“Yet.” Kaia laughed. 

“Okay. This man is gorgeous. If you don’t date him, I will.”

“Syd, he’s so head over heels for Tri.” Stephanie spoke.

“And Tri really should talk to him.” 

“I will…soon.” 

“Okay, enough on the boys. Let’s pop the bubbles, grab the snacks, put on the music and pretend were back in college.” Stephanie spoke, hopping off the couch and bouncing off to the kitchen with Kaia right behind her.

“Hey Tri?” Civannah spoke, grabbing Katrina’s wrist before she got too far.

“Yeah?”

“I just want to say…take your time with him…don’t feel like rushing into anything. And if Baekhyun bothers you, just let me know. I won’t let him treat my friend like trash.”

“Why would you think Baekhyun would bother me? He’s harmless.”

“He was the one sending the pictures and video’s to me. I heard him threatening you. Changmin and Jongin too.”

“We’re going talk about this later. Tonight we drink!” Katrina cheered, dragging Civannah to the kitchen.