A/N: for paige (aka zeldaxnerd7)

 

 

"What are you doing?"

He looks up quickly, his expression full of guilt. You glare at him.

"Sorry?"

You continue glaring at him, crossing your arms. He knows what he did. What he never should have done. He shrugs and returns to the laptop in front of him. You groan. When will he ever learn? Just as you are about to retreat to your room, he grabs your arm. You hadn't noticed he'd gotten up.

"What did I do?" he asks, looking genuinely confused.

You stay silent.

He takes a deep breath and averts his eyes. "If this is about Sehun, I thought I was doing you a favor."

"How is that helping me in any way?" You shake his hand off of your arm. "I never said any of that. How could you tell him that?"

"Tell him what? That you loved him? Wanted him to love you instead of being a friend to him?" His voice is raised to rival yours.

"How do you know I said those things?" You are deadly calm.

No one was there when you shared your feelings with your best friend. His eyes are shadowed with guilt. No.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you? How much did you hear?" He couldn't possibly have heard anything more than what he's said already.

"That was it, I swear." His tone pleaded with you to believe him. "I've seen how you interact with Sehun. I thought it was him."

You laugh, a bitter sound. He cringes. He's never really actually used his head and thought about it. He is as idiotic as they come.

"I'm not in love with Sehun."

You can see the gears turning, working out this new problem. He'll never understand. He'll always see you as the little sister all of his friends, himself included, doted on.

"Kris? You're always around him."

I'm always around you.

But that's something you'll never say. Something that would ruin what you have with him, regardless if you hurt more this way. A small tear falls before you can stop it. You hear the clatter of the other four boys coming in the house and turn away from him.

"It's Kris, isn't it? Damn, I was wrong. I'll talk to them later on and fix this misunderstanding."

You can hear the smile in his voice even if you can't see it. That grin would tear you apart but you don't care. You look back for a moment to catch a glimpse. And that's all it takes. He sees the sadness etched on your face, the tears that managed to escape you.

"Paige-"

You're already running to your room. Anywhere away from him. Anywhere would be fine. The others had gotten farther than you thought. You stumble into Taemin before you can stop yourself. He catches you, his arms wrapping around you protectively even if he has no idea what's going on.

"What happened?"

He takes one look from Jonghyun's panicked face to your heartbroken one and understands. He knew how you felt. It was hard not to notice. He narrows his eyes at Jonghyun as you bury your face in his chest.

"Hyung. What did you do?" His voice is cold and it almost makes you smile.

"I told Sehun that Paige loved him. I thought I was helping! I didn't know I'd make her cry. I hate seeing her cry. I'd never do something to hurt her on purpose."

"You obviously didn't think it through then. Why didn't you let her do it? You could have set up a date instead to push them long if you really wanted to help them get together. She could have confessed herself and-"

"I knew he'd reject her. He doesn't love Paige."

Your grip on Taemin's shirt got tighter.

"I didn't want her to come crying back to me because he hurt her. He isn't worth her tears."

You know by the tone of Jonghyun's voice that he was getting pissed.

Taemin scoffs. "And you're worth her tears?"

"No one is. If I had the choice, she'd never cry again."

"Oh really? It seemed like you were enjoying it when we walked in. You were grinning-"

"Do you think I really enjoy her being hurt? I didn't know she was crying. She was turned away. We were talking about who she loved. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Maybe stop getting in the way."

You look back at Jonghyun. His fists are clenched. He's glaring at Taemin and you know he's furious.

"What was it like for you Taemin?" His voice is deadly calm, similar to yours before.

"What do you mean?" Taemin asks, confused.

"When Minho was crushing on Sunny. You hated it with a passion. But what did you do? Grin. And. Bear. It. Because if the person you love is happy, that means you're happy." He pauses. "Just because I'm trying to get Paige the man she wants doesn't mean it's not killing me on the inside."

You stare at him. Turning out of Taemin's embrace, you watch Jonghyun as he takes deep breaths to try to calm himself.

"Jjong.." You trail off when his gaze turns to you.

They say the eyes are windows to the soul. At that moment, you believe it. Jonghyun was hurting because of you. Because he believed you loved someone that wasn't him. You laugh softly. This whole situation was wrong. A misunderstanding. No one had helped each other. They'd only hurt the one they loved. Jonghyun narrows his eyes at you, his expression pained.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" You move toward him.

You barely notice as Taemin leaves the hallway.

"I didn't want to ruin anything." He looks down at the floor. "I-I love you too much to lose you."

You stand in front of him. "You're so stupid."

He glances up, surprised.

You smile. "And so am I."

You press your lips to his, a searing mark that you would never forget. You grip his shoulders, your bodies moving closer together by instinct alone. When he parts from you, you can feel his heart pounding. His eyes search yours in a silent question.

"I love you. You were the one I was talking about," you tell him.

He suddenly grins. Idiot. He kisses you again, briefly, before he pulls away and laces your fingers through his.

"I love you too Paige."