When news of their next performance came, the members started practicing even harder. This one was going to be in a neighboring city's concert hall, and they were hoping to draw their biggest audience yet. They had even decided to let their fans submit questions and they would choose some to answer, wanting to show their fans they care.

Lily was starting to feel a little in the way though. She started avoiding the practices, instead electing to watch movies on their big screen tv.

The members would often come out to find her curled up in a blanket, staring blankly at the screen. It worried them. They didn't want her to go backward at all. Then Yeosang came up with an idea.

One day he flopped down on the couch after a longer than normal rehearsal and said, "How are you doing?"

"I'm good." She said, focusing on the tv.

"Will you help me with something?"

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"We need outfits for our performance next week. I know you used to work in a clothing store, so I thought maybe you'd have some ideas of what we could wear." He asked, already having cleared it with their manager and Hongjoong.

Lily's eyes lit up. "Really? You'd trust me to do that?"

"Yes, and the others agree with me. Make it... Bold." He stood and patted her head before going to shower.

Lily spent the rest of the night brainstorming ideas before she picked something she liked. She worked with one of the other designers, who fell in love with the idea, and she submitted the order to have the clothes custom made.

The night of their performance, she watched from the side of the stage, beaming at her work. All eight of them looked incredibly sexy dressed all in red, with shiny black boots. The audience ate it up too.

It was her first time seeing them perform, and it made her love her friends even more. They were naturals, sending winks at the perfect time, throwing little hearts when they wanted to be playful, and getting serious when the song called for it.

During the interaction section, the boys looked like they were having so much fun. She watched as some of them got shy and tried to hide their faces, especially when the fans had asked for a 'sexy' dance. She felt her cheeks flush slightly watching Wooyoung do his, then turn and wink at her when his back was to the audience.

Her heart fluttered and she clapped her hands silently.

When the show was finally over, the boys exited and grabbed water to drink.

"That was your best performance yet Ateez!" Their manager said, walking over to them. He praised each of them one by one.

Lily took a few steps back to get out of the way.

"Get some rest, you deserve a couple days off after this one." The man said, beaming.

Everyone made their way to the backrooms and the boys fell onto couches, sighing with happiness and exhaustion. Then they started critiquing their own performance, like they couldn't not work.

Yeosang hated how shy he was, feeling like he messed up during the interaction with the audience. The boys cooed over him, calling him things like cutie-pie and their little boy, causing him to hide behind Yunho, covering his red face.

They praised Jongho and his singing during one of the songs. He bowed his head in thanks, and then started splitting apples in half, handing pieces to the members, knowing they were all hungry.

The last thing they did was mob Lily, thanking her for the amazing outfits. Yunho, being the tallest, reached out to ruffle her hair.

She smiled at him. They hadn't been on their own to talk yet, but at that moment, the smile on his face was so genuine as he mouthed, "It's ok. I'm better now." He nodded and flicked his eyes to Wooyoung and back.

Lily bit her lip and tried to send him an apologetic look. She didn't want to hurt her friend, but he waved her off and pulled Jongho away to rub his fist into the top of his head.

That night, Lily curled herself into Wooyoung's chest again, breathing him in. He smelled of coconut from his soap, but she could still make out his natural pine scent. She rubbed her nose back and forth and smiled.

"Hey, Lily?" He asked, his voice small.

She hummed, not wanting to open her eyes.

"Would you... Would you like to go on a date tomorrow?"

She could feel his skin warming up and knew he was blushing. Lily sat up, staring down at the man lying next to her and ran her hand through his blonde hair. She liked the look on him. He had dyed it before the show. It suited him.

"Yes. I would love that."

He pulled her into his chest. She could feel his heart pounding, and she fell asleep listening to its rhythm.

­---

She awoke alone. The sun was shining through her window. It was going to be a beautiful day. When she swung her legs over the side of her bed, she noticed a flower laying on the nightstand.

A small, white lily.

She picked it up and brought it to her nose.

As she made her way downstairs, the house was oddly quiet. They must still be sleeping.

Her guess was right.

She watched as the boys came down the stairs one by one, yawning and stretching their limbs. She smiled when she saw San clinging to Yeosang, his head buried in the others back. Yeosang looked like he was struggling guiding San down the stairs and Lily laughed. The two of them shuffled to sit with Lily on the couch.

"Tired Sannie?" Lily poked his cheek.

He mumbled something under his breath and batted her hand weakly.

"He's in recovery mode." Yeosang said through a yawn. "We all are."

"Yup." Yunho said, sitting next to Lily and pulling her to him in a hug. He noticed the flower in her hand and smiled. "So that's what he was up to." He chuckled, patted her head, then went to the kitchen.

Yeosang watched him go and smiled sadly. When he noticed Lily looking a little ashamed, he took her hand. "Don't worry about him. He's a strong one. I think he'd rather have you as a friend than not have you in his life."

"Thanks, Yeosang." She said, feeling a little better. "So... Do you know where Wooyoung is?"

She didn't get an answer. She poked his side, catching him in a tender spot and he giggled.

"I'm not supposed to say." He pushed San down the couch, unleashing a stream of grumbles, to move out of Lily's reach when she tried to poke him again. "I can't tell you! I promised."

"Yeosaaaang," Lily whined, trying one last attempt, but then she ended up laughing when he turned red.

San could be heard giggling on the other side of him. He imitated Lily in a very high-pitched tone and they both laughed when Yeosang fled from the room.

"Alright, quit picking on him," Seonghwa said, walking into the room with breakfast.

Wooyoung was absent all day, but everyone seemed to know what he was up to because Lily found them watching her and smiling.

When 5 o'clock rolled around, San ran up to her and handed her another Lily before running away, giggling again.

She rolled her eyes and smelled it before noticing there was a note tied to the stem.

Get ready and meet me out front in an hour.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she ran upstairs to her room. She started digging through her clothes, throwing some across the room, trying to decide what she was going to wear.

She decided on a simple, black dress. It flowed from the waist down, ending halfway between her knees and her feet. It swayed around her as she walked. She kept her makeup simple, not really liking the feeling of it on her skin, but she wanted to look nice for him. Her hair was another story though. She didn't have any products to try and style it, so she fought with if for several minutes, trying to get it into a nice braid that draped over her shoulder. Slipping into some black flats for the final touch, she glanced at her clock and saw it was five minutes before she was supposed to meet Wooyoung out front.

She made her way down the stairs and was surprised to see all the boys standing off to the side. She blushed. "What are you guys doing here?"

Hongjoong came forward and cleared his throat. "I expect you home no later than midnight."

"Make sure he respect's you." Seonghwa added, patting Mingi's hands at his waist.

"Call us if anything goes wrong." Jongho smirked.

"But have fun." Yunho winked at her.

Lily felt tears forming in her eyes when she realized that they had just given her the 'concerned family talk', like she was their daughter going on her very first date.

Well... that part is true. She smiled to herself before bowing her head and turning to the front door.