Once the news was dropped that Lila's mother was involved with the case, everyone did their best to keep the mood light before they had to get serious again.

Yunho, Mingi, Seonghwa, Hongjoong, and Jongho ended up leaving after a few hours to give Lila a chance to rest, but they all promised to come back and see her soon.

"I think I'm going to head out too." Roger said, standing and stretching. "We all need to take this moment to try and relax. The case will take a few days to progress, so there's no sense in worrying about it right now. Just be ready once the ball get rolling though. Plus I'm still waiting to hear back from a lawyer."

"Roger?" Lila said quietly. He paused and looked at her. "Thank you for everything."

The manager gave her a small smile and squeezed her shoulder once, then ruffled Wooyoung's hair, before leaving the condo.

A comfortable silence fell over them after the door closed. It had been a few months since the four of them were alone and home.

Lila liked the feeling. She felt safe as he moved so her head was in Wooyoung's lap. As she nestled in, he started to run his hands through and play with her hair. It was the best feeling ever.

She knew the other three were worried about her, but she appreciated the fact that none of them made her talk right now. She would be doing plenty of that soon enough. Right now, this was all she wanted.

Eventually, while she was teetering on the brink of sleep, Wooyoung ended up moving her back to the bedroom.

She nestled into his side immediately and hummed a little when he kissed her forehead. "I love you Lila. I know we still need to talk about things, but I love you. I always have."

Lila tilted her head up and smiled. "I love you too, Wooyoung. I never stopped."

The tears that came to his eyes made her close the gap between them. She needed to feel his lips on hers. Really, she wanted much more than that, but deep down she knew neither of them was ready. So she would settle for the deep, intimate kiss that connected them right now.

Wooyoung's lips were so soft and gentle as he pulled her closer. She could feel his need and knew that he was thinking the same thing.

He was the one to pull back first. His breathing was heavy and cheeks flushed as he gazed down at her. "Thank you." He whispered before kissing her forehead again.

Lila felt his shoulders shaking a little, so she tightened her grip on him. If she could never leave from this spot again, she would be the happiest person alive.

But as she had learned so many times before, all good things must come to an end.

After a few days of staying at the condo, the police arrived to take another statement from everyone. Her new lawyer was there too. She was a kind, but stern woman by the name of Rebecca, and she had already done her research.

Roger was there for moral support as well.

Rebecca spend several hours asking mainly Lila question after question, trying to flush out every detail she could.

At one point, their other friends were called to come back and she took witness statements from them too. Hongjoong, Yunho, and Seonghwa were all to eager to share their dislike for Nate, while Mingi and Jongho didn't really have anything to say. Mingi told her about his interaction with Nate and Rebecca immediately said she wouldn't call on him as a witness or anything when the time came.

"Now the hardest thing is going to be your mother, I can already see that now." The woman said, tapping her pen against her pad of paper.

"How did she even get involved in this?" Hongjoong asked, placing a hand on Lila's shoulder from behind the couch.

"Nathaniel is using Lila's medical records against her." Rebecca looked at him. "She was admitted to the hospital several years ago after attempting to commit suicide, according to her records."

Lila looked down in shame as she felt everyone's eyes on her. "That isn't true. Yes... I've cut in the past, so my skin is my enemy there... But that time was my mother. She didn't want to take care of me anymore, so she tried to get rid of me... I wonder now if deep down her motive was to get my father's money."

"What money?" Rebecca asked.

"Dad... Dad left me a trust fund. He had been saving up for years, putting everything away while he was in the hospital. I guess he had some stocks and such as well. He left it all to me in his will, not Mom."

"That's what the lawyer was there for..." Hongjoong whispered. "I knew he had left you something, but he never said exactly what. But he had me contact the lawyer for him when things got closer." He squeezed gently.

"How much did he leave you?" Rebecca clicked her pen and looked at Lila expectantly.

She hesitated. She was almost embarrassed by the amount, it was more money that he had ever dreamed of having.

"I'm going to need to know this if I'm going to help you. Your mother sounds like she will do everything she can to get ahold of it."

"But it's in my name. I'm the one of the account, no one else. Dad didn't even have access to withdrawing money, he just put into it. But... It's over two million dollars..." Lila finished with a whisper.

She could feel the shock coming off her friends and pulled her knees to her chest so she could hide her face.

Wooyoung placed a few kisses on her shoulder.

Rebecca wrote down everything Lila had said and nodded a few times. "Is there any way you can prove that it was your mother who tried to kill you?"

"No... She got rid of everything and left me in the bathtub. San found me, but there was no proof that she did it. It's her word against mine. She's a very convincing woman because she also got away with trying to kill my dad."

Rebecca hummed once and kept writing. "And now there's no way to prove that..."

"There never was." Lila whispered.

The lawyer gave her a sympathetic look and let out a sigh. "Well the good news is I think we have a decent case. We've got enough eye witnesses here to go on, plus what the police saw when they got there. Nathaniel is going to have a convincing argument with your record, but I think we can beat him. You boys," She said, looking around the room but focusing on San and Wooyoung the most, "Need to make sure you keep a level head though. Getting emotional in front of the jury, at least the angry kind of emotional, is not going to help us. Can you do that?"

Wooyoung and San looked at each other and nodded slowly.

Satisfied, Rebecca nodded and packed up her things. "I will try to do a little more research on my end. But you need to know that because of the trial, Nathaniel is no longer in police custody."

Lila felt the color drain from her face as her mouth opened a little.

"Excuse me?" Wooyoung said, tightening his grip on Lila. "Can we get a restraining order or anything?"

"I'm working on it, but these things take time. My advice would be to lay low, and don't answer the door if it's him. As soon as the restraining order comes through, if it does before the trial, then we can take action if he shows up here. But for now, there's really nothing we can do." The lawyer stood and held out her hand for Lila to shake. "I'll call you as soon as I get any update. If I don't reach you then I'll call Roger."

"Thank you." Lila said quietly. She felt the fear creeping back in now that she knew Nate could show up here at any moment.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to let him hurt you." San placed a hand on her knee and pressed his forehead to the side of her head.

"Do you want me to stay here too?" Hongjoong asked softly.

"No, that's ok Hongjoong. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything. This couch isn't the best thing to sleep on." Lila leaned her head back so she could look up at him. "Thank you though."

She looked around the room at the others, and noticed Seonghwa's eyes on the doctor.

"If you need a place to stay instead of a hotel, maybe Seonghwa could put you up for a little bit?" She asked, sending the cook a cheeky smile as his cheeks flushed. So much for being the confident one.

"No, I couldn't do that. I don't mind staying at the hotel."

"I-It's not a problem." Seonghwa said after clearing his throat. "I wouldn't mind the company."

"Well I won't be visiting you any time soon." Jongho grumbled as he crossed his arms.

The room burst out in laughter as Seonghwa spun to smack his shoulder. "And what is that supposed to mean?!"

The youngest boy laughed and went to hide behind Mingi as Seonghwa slowly got redder in the face.

Lila glanced up at Hongjoong and saw a small smile on his face.

At least something good came out of all of this.

The doctor looked down and gave her a little smirk, then winked at her.

After a little while, everyone ended up leaving again. Hongjoong was given Seonghwa's address and promised he would go to the diner first to eat there after Jongho begged him to come by and try a new recipe he had created. He was determined to prove to Seonghwa that he was capable of adding his own dishes to the menu.

Seonghwa just rolled his eyes and shoved Jongho's head to the side, calling him a brat before storming out of the condo.

"Have you guys noticed that Seonghwa isn't as flirty when Hongjoong is around?" Lila asked, leaning her head on Wooyoung's shoulder.

"Most definitely. I think someone's got a little crush." Wooyoung chuckled. "Who knew Mr. Forward would be the exact opposite if he actually found someone attractive."

"I think it's cute." San leaned into Yeosang's waiting arms and sighed. "Now what?" He asked after a moment.

Lila sighed and closed her eyes. "We wait, I guess."

San reached a hand out and took hers. It was a stretch for both of them, but worth it to have that contact.

"Well." Yeosang turned his head to look at the other couple. "I told San that my brother has invited us out to his place for the holidays. I think we should take him up on it and get away for a bit."

"That sounds amazing, Sangie." Wooyoung said. "As long as everything works out with the trial, I think that will be the best present to all of us."

Lila nodded in agreement. She and San would always celebrate Christmas together. They'd spend the day baking and watching movies.

This year was going to be so much better with Yeosang and Wooyoung added to the mix. Her mind already started buzzing with all of the things they could do together. It sounded perfect.

Now they just needed to get through the trial.

She still couldn't believe that Nate had tracked down her mother. Well, she could to some extent... but would they really be able to sell the story as Nate was trying to protect her from herself?

It scared Lila to think about him getting away with something like this... And if he did, that meant he could come after her again.

The man had tried to kill her. That memory flashed before her eyes and Lila turned her face into Wooyoung's neck to let his comforting scent wash over her. Nate had tried to kill her while saying it would protect her from being hurt again.

He was sick... He was the one who needed to be hospitalized, not Lila.

"Don't worry." Wooyoung whispered. He always knew exactly what she was thinking. "We aren't going to let him near you. If he shows up here he will be taken care of. I promise."