//Tiff//

The next time I opened my eyes, The world was white, and again I briefly pondered if I was dead until I heard the faint humming of voices and beeping machines and figured I was in the hospital. At first I wasnt sure how I got there, or what had happened, but then the memories ambushed me. I suddenly felt pain stinging my entire body. I felt my face and winced when I felt the large bandages over my nose. I noted the bruises which varied in color and I traced them all the way from my shoulder to my bellybutton. There was something odd about the way my abdomen looked, it didnt take me long to figure out why... I had broken a rib. I cringed in pain as I touchd it with the tip of my finger.

A doctor walked in.

"Oh good, you're awake." She said sweetly with a smile. Hair tied back in a tight bun, she bent over me to adjust my pillow and tap my IV.

"Can I get you anything?" she spoke gently, her voice nearly inaudable. I looked around.

"My friends," I barely managed to groan.

"Ah yes, the five boys and the girl, you are a lucky girl to have such good friends. The youngest wouldnt leave your side the entire way here." I looked at her incredulously, wondering if she actually knew who those 'five boys' really were. And then it hit me...the youngest-Taemin. He stayed by my side. I felt a warmth spread across my face and I could not surpress a smile. He really did love me.

"Yes, when we got to the street you were on, he came running out of an alley carrying you! I thought that seemed a bit strange considering he looked the smallest and least suited to carry another human being!" she laughed to herself, not noticing that I was no longer REALLY listening.

I tried to get up, but the doctor looked suddenly panicked as she lay me back down.

"You are in no condition to be getting up right now! I'll bring them here!" but that wasnt good enough. I pushed past her, ripping out my IV needles, and ran through the door and out to the waiting room.

There he was. Head in his hands, looking down at his feet. Taemin. Everyone else looked up and gasped as I made my way over to him. He looked up, his eyes looked pink and swollen,eyelashes sticking together. Mascara stained his eyelids, smudged in the corners where he must have wiped his eyes. He let out what sounded like a cross between a sigh of relief and a sob.

I smiled at him, and even though it hurt to move, I bent down and wrapped my arms around him. I wanted to kiss him, right there and then, but i felt my whole body collapse on top of him, just as the doctor rushed out with a wheel chair onto which she lifted me and escourted me back to the room as she gestured with a quick nod of her head to the others to come. Obediently, the six of them followed her into the hospital room. I managed to get myself onto the bed as the doctor replaced my IVs. Then she left the room and it was just me and my best friends.

The room was silent for a time, as we all looked at each other, not caring that no one was talking, just happy to be together. It was my first time to be with the guys since Soon-Yi threatened me months ago. I had missed them so, and now, seeing them all around me, making sure I was okay...it was more than I ever could have hoped for.

Finally, Key broke the silence with a dramatic sigh.

"OH TIFF!" He said theatrically as he flung himself onto me and fake sobbed, "THANK GOOOOODNESS YOUR ALRIGHT!" He began rubbing my face. I couldnt help cracking up, and soon the whole room was laughing hysterically. It felt so good, so right...like old times.

Taemin, though laughing, was looking down, pink tinting his cheeks and nose. Key ruffled Taemin's blonde shaggy hair, a new improvement I had missed apparently.

"That was this guy the whole way up here! You should have seen him!" Key giggled.

"Give him a break, you were crying, too!" Mae chimed in.

"Look whose talking!" Jonghyun sneered. "Even I cried!"

"Thats not TOO hard to accomplish!" Key laughed.

"Oh come on, we were ALL upset!" Onew reasoned, smiling. I felt a warm sensation in my heart I had never felt before. My friends were all crying because they didnt know if I was ok. I felt more loved than I had ever felt before. And here they were, surrounding me.

"Aw great, now you guys made HER cry too!" Taemin said. He took my hand absently, as if trying to comfort me.

"No no, its just," i wiped my face, "I missed you guys. I really did!" I admitted, cringing as my voice cracked.

The doctor walked back into the room with towels and some water. She looked at the group, then at me, and must have thought they were causing me grief because she said, "Okay, visiting time is over now, time to go," In an almost too sweet voice that sounded stretched and insincere, especially when she added a giggle to the end.

Everyone looked at me, and one by one they came over to the bed to say goodbye, Jonghyun kissing my hand, Onew patting me on the head.

"Feel better," he spoke softly, as if not to let the doctor hear him.

Minho hugged my head and almost strategically placed my head in his armpit, to which, although he smelled really good, I shoved him away in pretend disgust.

Mae bent over the bed to give me a full on hug accross my shoulders and pressed her face against mine.

Key grabbed me by both cheeks and kissed my forehead. "LUV YA!" he said with vabrado. Then turning to Mae who was waiting for him at the door, he grabbed Mae's hand, then turned back to me and winked, leaving me alone in the room with a nervous nurse and Taemin.

As he walked up to my bed, he looked down at his feet. He looked as if he were at a loss for words. Then he looked up and smiled at me, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes that I hadnt even noticed had been there.

"I-I hope you get better, I will be praying for you." He said as if not sure what else to say. He hesitated like there was more on his mind, but i saw him make some sort of peace in his head as he turned to leave.

"Wait," I said without meaning to. He obediently turned around to face me and I knew what it was I was going to say.

"It was Soon-Yi, she did this to me." I watched as his face became mortified. His eyes grew wide and he looked like he was trying to say something.

"W-why?! Why the hell would she DO that?" He sounded angry. I was shocked, I had never heard him use language like that, nor had I ever seen him this angry, this was a side of him I was not used to, but at the same time couldnt say I disliked.

"Because I came, because I couldnt stay away." I muttered, hardly able to hear my own voice.

"Couldn't stay away from what?" He looked hungrily for the answer in my eyes and he moved his back and forth as if to look at each of my eyes individually.

"You. She told me if I got near you again, shed hurt us both. Thats the real reason I cant be with you." I confessed.

The world seemed silent, still and deadly as he tried to digest what I had just informed him.

"The ONLY reason?" he implored. I got what he was getting at and nodded shyly.

"I have been in love with you since long before we met, Taemin, and I cannot put words together right to describe my feelings for you. Im not in love with you." He looked down in disappointment, "Its more than that. I need you to survive. It killed me to see you with her when it was ME who really loved you, needed you enough to even dream of deserving you! I think your y and sweet and irresistable." His smile was so broad it made my heart sing. "And talented beyond belief, and adorable. But until Soon-Yi backs off, its too dangerous for us to be together."

The smile did not fade from his face. I sat up in my bed, feeling more stable.

"Don't worry about Soon-Yi, I have wanted you since I met you. and nothing is going to stop me from finally getting you when your right here," He said as he leaned down and gently placed his warm lips on mine. I smelled his essence, breathed it in like a perfume so sweet you had to keep inhaling. My eyes closed as Taemins lips lingered there. Then suddenly they started moving, and our lips danced inexpertly, opening and letting air pass through our open lips, not sure quite how to slip our tongues through, nervous that the other would not welcome it, and mutually enjoying the flavor of each other. I leaned back and pulled him down with me so he was nearly on top of me, on of his hands placed gently on my face as the other caressed my shoulder. I flung my arms around his neck and tightened them to bring his body closer to mine.

"Ahem" whispered a shaky voice. Immediately Taemin and I separated, having forgotten the nurses presence throughout the entire conversation and makeout session. I blushed and did not look at Taemin, but could see in my peripheral vision that he had a huge grin on his face.

"Well, um I better go," he said with a smile in his voice. And he left. I let myself plop back on the pillow, not ashamed of my own smile spreading across my entire face. I relived the moment in my head over and over...the moment I had waited for my entire life, the moment I had shared with the one I loved. My first kiss.