Despite feeling like she'd never sleep for worrying about tomorrow, Cleo showered and was deeply asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow. The next morning, she was awoken by a rhythmic knocking on the door. Sitting straight up Cleo groaned, she'd forgotten to set an alarm before falling asleep. Assuming housekeeping was knocking she slipped out of bed and padded over. She opened the door without checking the peephole and was immediately grateful Allie had insisted she pack a set of matching pajamas instead of her usual oversized T-shirt. Leaning against the door frame grinning at her was Chan.

"Good Morning Sleeping Beauty"

Cleo hid a yawn behind her hand. "What time is it?"

"It's 7:30, I thought I'd make sure you were awake. We're leaving in 30 minutes, time to get moving."

"Where are we going?"

"I'm bringing you to rehearsal, so you can meet everyone, dress comfortably."

With that he rolled off the doorframe and started back to his room. He stopped after a few steps and turned back, "Nice pajama's", and with a wink he was gone.

Cleo could feel her cheeks burning as she shut her door. She hustled through her morning routine. Running a brush through her hair, cleaning her teeth, a swipe of mascara and some tinted lip balm and she was ready. She threw on a pair of leggings and a sweater and was just lacing up her converse high tops when Chan knocked again.

"Let's go Cleo, they're waiting for us!"

With one last glance in the mirror Cleo grabbed her bag and headed to the door to meet Chan.

Did he have to look at her like that?

Because when she opened the door Chan looked her up and down, his eyes seemed to slow as they passed her lips before landing on her eyes.

"All right there sweetheart?"

Cleo realized she'd been staring up at him for longer than was probably necessary. With a nod and a smile, she shut her door and joined Chan in the hallway. Sounding much braver than she felt Cleo responded with, "Lead the way".

Chan led her back out to the lobby where they met the same driver as the day before, crawling into his black van.

"Where is everyone else?", Cleo was looking around and it was only her and Chan in the car.

"They're already at the venue. I told them we'd meet up with them once you were ready."
"Oh."

"Is everything okay?"

"Of course. I'm just nervous I guess."

"You have nothing to worry about, they're going to like you as much as I do."

Cleo looked over at Chan at that. He was studying her intently. She could feel the beginning of a blush creep across her cheeks and swallowed through the lump in her throat.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Seriously, I've got a lot of anxiety on a normal day and this is far from normal. I like meeting new people, but I've always done better one on one or in small groups, eight people is not a small group."

Chan shook his head, continuing to smile as he turned to look out the window, "Trust me, you'll fit right in."

Cleo tried to channel the confidence Chan had in her as she watched Seoul pass by through the tinted windows.

Ten minute later Chan reached over and squeezed Cleo's hand, "We're here".

She trailed behind as Chan led her through the winding hallways of the concert venue. Expecting to be brought to a green room or staging area she was surprised to find herself behind a curtain leading to the main stage. Heart hammering, she could hear laughing and voices coming from just ahead. Chan saw her hesitation and reached for her hand again before pulling her forward with a laugh.

"Guys gather up, there's someone I want you to meet!"

Hand still clasped in Chan's, Cleo stumbled out onto the stage. The first person she saw was Felix, who came bounding up and grinning ear to ear embraced her in a flurry of blonde hair. "You've got to meet everyone, come on!" He tugged her hand from Chan's and replaced it with his own before she could miss the comforting warmth. Felix led her to center stage where the other six had been stretching and warming up. At Chan's announcement they all stood and took turns shaking her hand and exchanging greetings.

Lee Know went first, introducing himself with a firm but quick handshake and a curt "Minho". Which Cleo returned with a smile and, in her best Korean, "Nice to meet you Minho, I'm Cleo". He didn't smile but he did tip his head as though her response intrigued him and nodded before returning to his place on stage. Cleo figured that was a good enough reaction from him and moved to greet Han next. Living up to his name as half of the sunshine twins he greeted her with nearly the same enthusiasm as Felix. "I'm Han! Felix and Chan have been talking about you nonstop since that video call. That was so crazy by the way, I couldn't imagine doing what you do. I'm so glad you agreed to come to visit us, we're going to have a lot of fun." He'd been shaking her hand through his entire introduction and only stopped when Changbin placed a hand on his shoulder. With a final cheeky smile, he released her arm and went to tackle Minho from behind.

Changbin introduced himself in a more relaxed manner. Slinging his arm over her shoulders and guiding her away from Chan he whispered in her ear, "He really hasn't stopped talking about you, you know". Cleo surprised herself as she rolled her eyes at him, already enjoying the banter.

"Oh please, you're just trying to wind me up."

Changbin winked before turning them both back to the group and saying loud enough for them all to hear, "Come find me when you get sick of our old man Chan".

Hyunjin scoffed, "Yeah right Changbin, in your dreams". To Cleo he stuck out a hand, "I'm Hyunjin, it's a pleasure to meet you".

Cleo returned the sentiment before Felix called, "Hyunnieee" and Hyunjin walked off, giving Cleo a salute as he turned away.

Shaking their heads at their friends' antics Seungmin and I.N. approached her. "Sorry about them," Seungin started, "they're annoying…"

"But you can't help but love them", finished I.N. with a laugh.

A clapping sounded from the side of the stage. Chan was calling them to order. He directed Cleo to a spot where she would be out of the way but still have a good view before they began to rehearse in earnest. Various staffs flit on and off stage carrying different lighting and other props. During individual sound checks the boys would take it in turn to come chat with Cleo. Hyunjin and her spent their entire time discussing art and photography. Cleo confessed to being a terrible artist but having a deep appreciation for the arts and art history. Seungmin might have been a bigger Potterhead than her. While Changbin's conversation turned into a battle of who could tell the worst "that's what she said" joke. The only person with who conversation did not flow with was Minho. Han had already assured her that Minho was a grump at the best of times and that it would take time for him to warm up to her, but Cleo couldn't help feeling a kinship with the quiet man. He often had an arm around Han or was otherwise touching him, seemingly unconsciously, and Cleo recognized it as a comforting gesture. She too sometimes felt the need to feel the people around her to ground her in unfamiliar situations. It was one of the reasons she felt so drawn to Felix. He was always grabbing her hand or leaning against her.

Later in the rehearsal she noticed Minho looking for something during a break. He was the only one without a water readily available. Before he could find one Chan called him back to begin the next stage. Cleo signaled to Felix that she was going to walk around and went in search of a snack table or drink station. Luckily, she found one rather quickly down the hall to the left of the curtain and was able to gather a few waters to bring back to the boys. While they double checked their marks, she set the bottles up where they could easily be seen before taking her seat. As they finished Minho noticed the waters. Looking from her to the waters he picked one up, inclining his head at her in thanks he downed it in one.

Hours had passed. Changbin and Han were threatening a walkout if they didn't eat in the next 5 minutes and I.N seemed inclined to agree. Realizing the team was on the brink of mutiny, Chan agreed to end the rehearsal there for the day.

The nine of them trooped out, Cleo lagging toward the back until Felix came up behind her. Placing both his hands on her shoulders from behind he marched her to the van she had arrived in. "We're headed back to the hotel to shower and order room service. Since it's the night before a show we have a curfew, but we always order in and eat in Chan's room together. It's tradition."

"That's such a sweet tradition, I'm sure you guys will have fun."

"What do you mean 'you guys'? You're invited!"

"Felix it's fine, I'm sure not everyone wants me to be there. It's a Stray Kids tradition, I can't just barge in."

"Pfft. GUYS ", His voice boomed louder than she expected from behind her and she jumped.

"Cleo's worried we don't want her to have dinner with us."

Hyunjin, I.N., and Han began protesting straight away, "You have to!" "It's tradition and you're one of us for the weekend!" "We know where you're staying!"

Cleo was well aware that her face was roughly the shade of a tomato, something Changbin was quick to call attention to, "We should order Tteokbokki to match Cleo's face".

Chan swung around, ready to reprimand him but Cleo stopped him with a hand on his arm, "Look". Minho was laughing at Changbin's joke.

As they clambered into the van, fighting over the seating arrangements, Minho tapped Cleo's shoulder, "You should come".

How could she say no to that?
-

After settling into Chan and Felix's room they proceeded to order more food than Cleo had ever seen in her life. The worker that brought the deliveries to them had to make multiple trips to hand over all the dishes. They all wanted Cleo to taste their favorite dish and hear her thoughts on which was the best. Based on the amount of leftovers, Cleo deduced they likely ordered such a wide variety for her benefit and was touched at the thought that they wanted to be the ones to introduce her to their favorite foods. The evening was spent chatting and getting to know each other. Minho occasionally asked questions in Korean about her job that Chan or Felix would translate for her. I.N. was particularly interested in how she decided she wanted to be a nurse while Seungmin was more interested in what her life was like in midwestern USA.

At 10pm Chan forced them all to leave, reminding them it was lights out in an hour. Everyone except Minho hugged Cleo goodnight, although he did pat her on the shoulder on his way out. The last to leave, Chan walked Cleo to her door. As he wished her goodnight he placed his hand on her cheek, tilting her face to look up at him, "I told you they'd love you".

Cleo's breath stuttered at the intimacy of the touch. She turned her head into his hand, just slightly, and hummed her assent. Chan's tongue darted out, wetting his lower lip as his thumb twitched to drag across Cleo's lip.

"I'll come get you for breakfast tomorrow and we'll talk about the plan for the day. Goodnight Cleo."

Before she could catch her breath to respond, he removed his hand from her cheek and turned for his room. Lying in bed that night Cleo felt the loss of his touch as sure as if it had been replaced by a shadow.