Felix side-eyed Chan in the Uber, he'd ignored an incoming call for the 5th time since they were picked up at the airport. Chan caught his eye and shook his head before looking back out the window. Felix knew better than to question Chan, besides he could guess who was blowing up the phone. Chul couldn't be happy with their disappearance. It didn't matter that there was five days before their next commitment, they didn't ask for the companies permission and he was certain they'd pay for it when they returned. But he couldn't blame Chan for not caring about Chul or his threats to put them on hiatus.

Their plane ride over had been silent. They only spoke when necessary and even then, it felt forced. Chan hadn't listened to music or watched a movie despite the hours on the plane. He'd stared straight forward, ignoring stewardesses and the other people around them. The most indication he ever gave that he knew Felix was there was the grip he maintained on his hand, squeezing it occasionally when a shadow would pass over his features.

"There's some water bottles back there if you're thirsty", the Uber driver broke Felix's reverie.

"Uh, thanks mate, but we're good", Felix glanced at Chan again.

Half an hour later they rolled up to the hospital entrance. Chan was out of the car before Felix could unbuckle, grabbing both their bags and heading for the double doors. Felix gave their driver a polite wave before following Chan into the fluorescent lighting. Now that they'd arrive Felix felt it hard to breathe. He fell in line behind Chan, letting him do the talking. The worker at the welcome desk directed them to the 4th floor, room 406.

The elevator dinged for the fourth floor. Felix moved to exit but Chan didn't budge. He turned back to Chan, searching his face for an explanation. Chan just stared ahead but didn't move to exit the elevator. "Chan?", the door shut behind him. "Chan? What's wrong?", Felix was pleading now. He was used to Chan the leader, the man who would always take charge and could fix anything. He'd never seen him look so lost before.

Chan remained still, his gaze fixed on a point above Felix's head, obviously drowning in his thoughts. His shoulders sagged, bore down by guilt and worry. A crease between his brows had formed, his lips pulling down. Felix pulled Chan to him, embracing him with all the warmth and comfort he could muster. Finally, Chan spoke, his voice muffled by Felix's hair, "I'm scared Felix. I'm scared of what I'll see when we go in there. I'm scared of what I've done to her."

Felix knew what it was like to be scared. Chan had repeatedly saved him from his own feelings and emotions over the last few years. Now, it was Felix's turn to be Chan's anchor, just as Chan had been for him so many times before. Felix pulled Chan from him, keeping his hands on his shoulders, "I'm scared too. But we will face it together. We're here for Cleo and you're not alone."

Chan nodded, surreptitiously wiping a tear from his cheek. The door behind them dinged open again and the two exited the elevator. They made their way down the linoleum hallway to room 406, the sounds of hospital workers and beeping from medical equipment replacing the silence of the elevator. Room 406 came into view and Felix reached for Chan's hand once again. Chan squeezed back before knocking and opening the door.

Allie looked up from her phone, expecting the knock to have come from a nurse or doctor, but instead found herself looking at two very concerned members of Stray Kids. Neither of them looked at her, both their eyes trained on the form in the bed. Allie cleared her throat causing Felix to flinch and glance her way. With a glance back at Chan who hadn't moved, he crossed the room to Allie, extending a hand in greeting. They shook hands and introduced themselves briefly.

"I didn't think you were serious when you said you were coming", Allie eyed Chan across the room. Felix responded from next to her, "Of course we came. How's she doing?"

"She woke up briefly earlier, but they gave her a lot of pain medication, so she'll sleep for a while now. She's pretty messed up though. Fractured orbital and nose, her right wrist is broken and her left clavicle. A few broken ribs too on that right side."

Chan sank into the chair closest to Cleo's bed, one hand covering his face the other reaching for Cleo. He stopped short of grabbing her hand, his falling to the bed, limp, next to it instead. Felix crossed the room to Chan, placing a hand on his shoulder in support. Allie watched the interaction closely, glancing from Chan to Cleo. She cleared her throat, "I actually have to get to work, will you two be okay here?".

Felix nodded. Allie made her way to the door, pausing just before walking out, "Here," she dug for a moment in her pocket, "it's Cleo's, she'll want it when she wakes up." Felix extended his hand and she placed a gold ring on his palm before leaving with a nod. The door swung shut behind her and Felix took a closer look at the ring. His voice was strained as he passed the ring to Chan, "Here. You should hold onto this."

Chan took the ring without looking, twisting it halfway down his ring finger, as far as it would fit. Felix dragged another chair to sit next to Chan at Cleo's bedside. Together they waited.

Felix had long since fallen asleep. His legs curled under him and his head on Chan's shoulder. Chan had alternated between responding to texts from various members (reassuring Changbin and sending instructions to Minho), twisting the gold ring around and around his finger, and watching Cleo's face for any sign she was waking up. He had resumed twisting the ring when he felt a subtle engraving on the band and brought it closer to inspect. At that moment, a gentle warmth pressed to his other hand, a smaller hand was squeezing his. Chan's body jolted as he whipped his head up, causing Felix to slip off his shoulder and startle awake, "What the…".

Cleo was watching them, a small smile on her face.

"Cleo", Chan breathed out.

Cleo's eyes moved from Chan to Felix and back again before she burst into a fit of laughter. Her laugh quickly turned to a gasp as her hand flew to her ribs, a grimace crossing her face. Chan had flown to his feet, looking around for some way to help, Felix remained frozen in his seat.

"Oh my god these painkillers are good. I'm out of my mind", Cleo wheezed out between gasps.

Felix and Chan looked at each other, concerned. "Uh, Chan do you think we should call a doctor? What if she's having a stroke or something?"

This just made Cleo laugh harder, "I could hallucinate anything, and my brain chose the two of you. Figures."

Perplexed, Chan knelt down beside the bed, holding her hand in both of his. "What do you mean Cleo?"

Cleo took her time to focus back on him, "It figures because I haven't stopped thinking about you since I left."

Her words hung in the air, neither Chan or Felix knew what to say. Chan's expression had shifted from concern, to surprise, and landed on a soft expression, one Felix had only seen him use when he watched over the members. Cleo had stopped laughing and was looking at her hand in Chan's, "I haven't stopped thinking about you since I left". Her voice was quieter this time and her smile had gone sad.

Chan watched Cleo's fingers dance over his own. They found her ring on his finger and began to spin it. Felix took a couple of steps forward until he was on the other side of her bed from Chan, he knelt down with tears threatening to spill over. "Cleo, this is real. We're here."

She turned to look at him, reaching out a hand to stroke his cheek. "Why are you crying, Felix?"

A sob escaped his throat, "Because I missed you."

"I missed you too", and her eyes started to flutter closed. Her hand fell from Felix's cheek, limp and her breathing was slow and even.

"I think she fell back asleep", Chan murmured softly. Felix was wiping his cheeks and nodded his agreement.

Cleo woke up again a few hours later to an empty room. Her head was pounding, and her mouth was drier than she thought possible. She spotted a cup on the bedside table and began the long process of repositioning her broken body until she could reach it. She'd just placed a finger on it when the door to her room burst open. Surprised, she knocked the cup off the table and onto the linoleum floor with a sadSPLAT.

Pushing through the door carrying trays laden with cafeteria food was Chan and Felix. Felix had his head turned toward Chan, gesturing so wildly in the middle of telling his story he nearly dropped his tray. Cleo remained frozen. She was so sure she'd dreamed their presence. Chan was still laughing at Felix when he noticed Cleo staring. He dropped the tray he was carrying on the table and rushed to kneel at her bedside.

"You're awake! How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

Cleo couldn't help but stare, transfixed, at Chan's face. If her entire body didn't hurt, she'd be inclined to pinch herself. Instead she settled for reaching a hand out and poking Chan, hard, on the forehead.

"Ow, what the... what was that for?"

"You're real?"

"Of course, I'm real, why wouldn't I be?"

"But how did you get here? Wait, no, how did you know I was here?" Horror spread across her face. "You have shows! The tour! You can't be here."

Felix set down his tray and bounced over to Chan and Cleo, "We have a few more day's until our next show. When Allie told us what happened we caught the first flight…"

"When Allie did what? How did she….." Cleo grabbed at her head, "God my head hurts".

Chan's face changed from a relaxed smile to a look of concern, "Should I get the doctor?". He asked partially to Cleo, partially to the room at large. He was halfway to the door when Cleo called him back.

"No, no. I'm fine. I just don't understand. How did Allie call you?"

"Well…" Chan looked sheepishly at Felix who just shook his head as if to say,This one's on you mate.

"I might have persuaded my assistant to give me your number. We wanted to check on you and make sure you knew we did not have anything to do with the press releases Chul did. Allie just happened to pick up the phone since you were", he gestured to Cleo in the hospital bed, "unable to".

Cleo's mouth remained hanging open for a moment before she snapped it shut. "Okay so that's how you knew where I was but why are youhere"

Felix took a step forward, his expression hurt. 'Because we missed you Cleo.. You left so quickly, and things haven't been the same since. We originally wanted to convince you to come back but now youhaveto come back. We can keep you safe."

His eyes had become steely with his declaration that they were there to protect her. She couldn't help but soften at his resolve. "Felix, I left to keepyousafe. I almost ruined Stray Kids reputation. I won't risk damaging your careers."

"But Cleo, none of this would have happened if it weren't for us. Let us fix it, please. I don't care what the media thinks and neither do the other members. We only care that you're happy."

Felix's eyes had filled with tears, she gestured for him to take her hand. Squeezing his hand Cleo spoke slowly, wanting him to understand every word. "Felix, this is not your fault. It has nothing to do with Stray Kids"

Chan spoke up from her other side, "Then what happened? Who would want to hurt you like this?" The threats he'd heard on her phone not so long ago still rang in his ears. He'd never told her about the caller. Deep down he was worried that by hiding this from her he'd indirectly put her in harms way.

Cleo took a deep breath, her head falling back to the pillow. It was Felix's turn to squeeze her hand in reassurance. "Please Cleo, tell us. We love you." His voice broke on the last syllable.

She squeezed her eyes shut. It had been a long time since she spoke about Jason. She spent most of her days pretending he didn't exist, and her friends who were aware of him knew better than to bring it up. She thought when she left him she wouldn't have to be afraid anymore but if the last few days were any indication she wouldn't be safe until he was put behind bars or dead. Keeping her eyes tightly closed she began to recount how she met him to Chan and Felix.

She'd been a new nurse in the emergency department, he's been a security guard who worked overnight with her. In the beginning thing's were perfect. He'd bring her flowers and gifts as a surprise. He seemed to go out of his way to make her feel special. She never doubted how much he cared for her. They moved in together after only dating for 8 months because, in his words, 'it didn't make sense paying for two apartments if they spent every day together anyway'. She'd left her apartment and moved in with him. The abuse started gradually after that. It started with him complaining about her friends, he thought they took up too much of her time and that they didn't like him. She stopped doing things without him. Eventually, if she so much as left the house without him he'd accuse her of seeing sneaking out to cheat on him.

They'd only been living together for 3 months when he hit her for the first time. Her shift had gone long, and she got home an hour later than she'd expected to. She was exhausted and went straight for their bedroom where she found him, seething. He screamed at her for hours, convinced she was late because she'd been at another man's house. When she tried to push past him to leave the room he shoved her, hard, into the dresser. The impact had knocked the breath out of her and caused her eyes to water. She'd looked at him in shock only to find him sobbing. He claimed she'd made him do it, that he loved her so much and he was just afraid she would leave him for someone better. The fight ended with her comforting him. For the following week he was on his best behavior, he surprised her with flowers and fancy dates. Until she burned dinner one evening and he through the pan, still hot from the stovetop, at her head.

This cycle lasted for months. Each fight her injuries became more severe and harder to hide. She made excuses at work for the bruising and when people around her became suspicious she cut them out of her life. Jason was always so apologetic afterwards, showering her in gifts and attention, she truly believed he regretted hurting her. Since he didn't allow her to have relationships with other people music became the only escape she had. Immersing herself in Stray Kids' music and content became a refuge, the only place she felt safe. Often, the only time she would smile for days at a time was when watching their antics online.

But like all good things in Cleo's life, Jason did his best to ruin it. He didn't understand why she spent time watching their Youtube channel or listening to their music. He scoffed whenever he saw one of the boys on her phone screen, spitting gay slurs or making racist comments. One day Cleo just snapped. She couldn't handle the way he spoke about her last tether to the outside world. In her mind Stray Kids was a completely innocent party, they'd never burned his dinner or made a careless comment in front of him, so why did he hate them so much? It was what she needed to realize she had to get out. She'd left that evening and shown up at Allie's door with nothing more than a backpack of clothes. Allie had taken her in, no questions asked, and even helped her get a job at the Emergency Department where she worked.

It took months, but Cleo was able to rebuild her life without Jason. She changed her phone number and locked down her social media. He would show up from time to time and make threats, but she'd always taken safety precautions, carrying pepper spray and texting friends when she left and arrived at locations.

"….I still don't know what changed that night. I hadn't heard from him in so long, I thought he'd given up…." Felix and Chan had let her speak without interrupting. She was grateful for their silence, she wasn't sure she would have been able to finish if they'd stopped her. When it became clear that she was done talking Chan stood, stooped over her, and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room. Confused, Cleo looked at Felix who shrugged before leaning forward and folding her into his arms. Cleo nuzzled into his sweater, breathing in his scent and allowing a few tears to fall. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Chan came back into the room, pocketing his phone as he did so.

"Right. I've set up a security team to be here when we aren't. There's one more month before the North American stretch of our tour but we'll fly in as often as we can. Once we finish with North America we can have your things sent to the dorm and you'll fly back to Seoul with us."

He listed this all out like it was already decided upon, but Cleo just stared at him with her mouth hanging open.

"Chan, you can't be serious? I can't just leave my life here."

Felix had released Cleo and his eyes were ping ponging between her and Chan. "I mean… he's got a point Cleo. You're obviously not safe here. Our dorm has more security than most. Besides, you're family. You belong with us."

Cleo had to take a moment to collect her thoughts. Felix's words had touched her deeply but neither of the two men looking at her seemed to understand. "I'm… touched that you both want to see me cared for but what do you expect me to do? Live in your dorm like a pet cat? I could never be seen with you. You saw what happened last time I was photographed with Han. Imagine how your fans would react to memoving inwith you."

Felix looked conflicted, but Chan's jaw was set in a way she recognized meant he was getting ready to argue. He had just opened his mouth to retort when a sudden pain flared in her ribs. She couldn't stifle her wince of pain and all argument melted from Chan's face. "Okay Cleo, we'll talk more about this when you're better. But please, let me hire a security team. We'll all sleep better knowing you're being kept safe while we're away."

At this point Cleo was too tired to argue. Nodding her agreement, she motioned for Felix to sit on the bed with her. Once he'd laid back she folded herself under his arm as best as she could before whispering, "I'm really glad you're both here".

Chan had reoccupied his chair at her side and reached for her hand, giving it a light squeeze. "There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be".