The sphere was warm and comforting, that late at night and you wished you could stay here forever. But just like you said, it was late, almost early by now and if you wanted to be able to roll out of bed at a decent hour tomorrow you’d slowly have to start getting up from your seat. A fit of laughter filled the living room and you rolled your eyes at the stupid joke your friend Heather made, but couldn’t contempt a smile. You’d always known that you had some amazing friends, and that you wouldn’t trade them for any luxury in the wold. They were always there for you when you needed them. You had known each other for years, and you were glad that growing up hadn’t caused a wig between any of you. With high school left far behind all of you, where your friendship had blossomed, you were still to say that you hadn’t lost each other on the way. You took a deep breath and finally emptied your glass of wine and put it back onto the table with a slightly bigger force than you had meant to. Glances came your way, and as if they knew what you were about to do some eyes almost pleaded you not to. But no matter how much you hated that you had to be the first one to go, staying would be a irrational decision. Yet, that didn’t meant that those often weren’t the most fun ones. 

“I should go, it’s late.” You said, sending a supportive look to Amber who was seated beside you and who looked as if she was thinking of a way to stick you to your chair. No one knew when you’d see each other again, due busy work schedules and filled university classes it was hard to get everyone together all at once. You were already longing for the next time you would see these wonderful people together again, but for now it was time to say goodbye. You knew that there would pop up some terrible pictures on social media tomorrow, even without staying till the crack of dawn. “But we were having such a good time.” Heather said, reaching for your hand across the table and giving it a soft squeeze. He boyfriend smile at her from beside her and Daniel who wrapped his arm around her shoulder gently. You patted her hand, giving her the sign that you’d made up your mind and that was how it was to be. You were’t going to tell her that if she only tried hard enough you would change your mind and you would stay anyway. There was a big chance you would regret that in the morning. “I’ll call you soon, okay?” You assured her, and pushed back your chair so you could get up. 

“But you walked here. We can’t let you go back all on your own.” Jongdae spluttered, and you appreciated his concern for you. Immediately a discussion roamed over the table, as everyone tried to figure out a way to get you home safely. The truth was that you lived only ten minutes away from the cosy restaurant all of you had decided to meet. Taking the car would have been a shame, and even though it still cooled off at night, the temperatures weren’t that bad. Most of the roads were lit, so you wouldn’t have the chance of getting lost and if anyone would try to attack you then you would have the chance to see them coming. You wouldn’t say that you were able to fight them, but you could run, and that was something. “Please, I’m a big girl. I can get home myself.” You remarked and for a second everyone went quiet. Though, no one had to say anything, you could see their silent complaints written all over their faces. You just decided to pretend as if you didn’t notice. But you’d barely gotten your arm in one of the sleeves of your jacket as someone joined you. “I’ll walk her, I was planning on leaving and I live close by.” Your eyes flew up to meet with the owner of the remarkable voice and you swallowed softly before sending a reassuring look his way. 

“Please, I don’t want you to do all the effort.” You started, but he cut you off by slipping into his own coat and pulling up the zipper in a fast movement. Each time you looked at him you couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was, and you felt like hitting yourself across the face. “No really, it’s no problem. And Jongdae’s right, I don’t want you to wander the streets all by yourself this late at night. It’s not safe.” He sounded so convincing, as if he really tried to let you know that he wanted to do this, so you pressed your lips together into a smile. You’d think that by now you were over your childish high school crush, but sometimes you could still feel the butterflies which hadn’t died out completely. It was during moments like these, when he proved to be a real and caring gentleman that you felt like swooning. Baekhyun and you had been friends since senior year, when you had still been shy and he had been one of the guys. Not being able to find enough courage to confess you had pushed each other into the friend zone, and until now that was where you’d been stuck. It wasn’t something that still kept you awake at night, back then it had. During moment you didn’t see him and you weren’t confronted with your emotions you were over it. Yet, here you were, holding your breath as he appeared beside you like your guarding angel. 

Everybody smiled brightly, promises to see each other soon were arranged before you started heading towards the door and smiled friendly towards the employees on your way. The warmth you had felt inside of you made room for nervousness. You were hyper alert that Baekhyun was walking behind you, and you quickly pressed your hands down into the pockets of your jacket in the hope to appear as careless as possible. The streets were mostly empty. Every once in a while you heard the sound of cars paling by or people exiting restaurants to head home, but apart from that the two of you st