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— the silent sound of loneliness wants to follow me to bed —

Being alone used to be very uncommon for her.

Her mother, who worked for a magazine, and her father, a skilled photographer, usually worked from home. She'd come back from school to find her mom typing an article for the magazine while her dad took pictures of the exterior of their house (or anything else that caught his eye, which rarely included Luna). They would smile and welcome her home, always asking how her day was and other various things. It was so normal to Luna that, when one day they weren't home, she was terrified.

Luna was only eight or nine, still so innocent and naive. She walked inside, screaming hello and jumping up and down frantically. She was so happy to be home, to see her mommy and daddy again.

There was no reply.

"Maybe they're busy and can't talk right now," The brunette whispered quietly. But even then she couldn't believe herself.

As young as she was, it had occurred to Luna at some point that life wasn't always perfect. Even so, she sat there crying on the kitchen floor, waiting to here their voices again. They never showed up. She decided that she could take care of herself. Luna heated up leftovers for dinner and went to bed with tear-stained cheeks.

They were there when she woke up, acting as if nothing had happened. But night after night, they wouldn't come home.

At this point she was sick of being alone. Luna needed someone to comfort her. So she decided she was the one who wasn't coming home.

After school one afternoon, she walked right past her house, not even daring to look at it. Luna knew they weren't going to be home. Instead, she walked straight to Onew's house.

Onew and her had met when his parents came over for dinner when she was only five years old. He was three years older than her, so she felt uncomfortable around him. But they soon became friends. He was always protecting her, and Luna knew she could trust him.

She climbed up the fire escape to his room and slowly knocked on the balcony door. He opened it and looked at her in shock. "Luna? What are you doing here?" She walked past him and sat down on his bed, snuggling into the warm comforter. He gave her a weird look and sat down in his desk chair, sighing. "What's wrong?"

"Mom and dad," she started, "don't come home anymore."

And before she could even ask him, he replied, "It's okay. You can come here sometimes."

Sometimes turned into all the time. It was seven years later, and Luna still found herself climbing up those stairs to Onew's balcony. At first, Onew would just sit there in his desk chair, watching her as she started to fall asleep in his bed. But more recently, he would sit at the edge of the bed and rub her back silently. Sometimes he would even lay down with her. Then there were times when she didn't want to go home. So Luna stayed with him, and he kept her safe.

Going home every night was the last option. Eventually she figured out that her dad was an alcoholic, going to bars every night and not coming home until early in the morning.

Her mom, on the other hand, told her that she was working late shifts for a job at a convenient store. Later Luna found out that this wasn't true. On one of the rare nights she did come home, it was with another man.

The brunette always felt better with Onew. His mom was more than welcoming. She was more like a mother to her than anyone else had ever been, and she was very thankful for that. Sometimes she would let her stay overnight so Luna didn't have to be home alone. That became a regular thing, and anyway, half of her belongings were already there.

But good things always have to come to an end.

It was a normal day. School was fine, and she couldn't wait to go home (well, to Onew's house, but by now it was also her house). She grabbed her key out of the pocket and opened the front door, peering in to see if anyone was there yet. Even though Luna could pretty much guarantee that they would be back soon, it still worried her.

It turned out that they weren't home yet. So she went upstairs and laid in Onew's bed, waiting for him to come and keep her company.

He didn't come home.

She waited for him all night, not even daring to fall asleep. Luna was having deja vu of that first time when her parents didn't come home.

She cried herself to sleep. When Luna woke up, Onew was next to her, a small smile gracing his perfect face.

"Where the hell were you? Do you even know how worried I've been?!" He stared her straight in the eye as she felt the tears streaming down her face. Luna hadn't even realized that she was now standing a few feet from the bed.

He stood up, his eyes still locked on hers. He slowly walked over to her and pulled Luna into a tight embrace. He put his hand under her chin and kissed the tears away. "Luna, I will never leave you, you got that?" He pressed his lips to hers. And in that instant she forgave him.

He pulled away and smiled at her. "Good," She said.

Now she'll never be alone again.

A/N: A little One-Shot with Luna and Onew (this is not related to the story), because I want to thank my 100 subscribers! <3 This came while listening to "The Lonely" by Christina Perri and even though it's a bit sad, I still like this One-Shot since it's something different than I'm writing normally.