I open the door to greet him, and Matthew stands before me. "Hey!" I move back to let him in but dart my eyes down to the travel cage he is holding.

This cannot be anything other than a pet, and I am so excited.

"Hey," he places the box down, but an adorable and tiny meow leaves it, and I gasp and kneel down in front of it to see what is inside. "Oh my— It's you!" I melt at the sight of the Ragdoll kitten and lie down to only focus on it and nothing else, and after taking his shoes off, Matthew opens the cage. "Here's you other gift, you get to spend time with her."

"Thank you so much, I'm so happy," I remain as calm as possible to not scare her, and Matt goes down on his knees to get her out. "Come here, Baby."

She does not fight or gets angry, and he puts her down right in front of me. Her tiny but fluffy body, her gorgeous blue eyes, and her little paws, everything about this kitten is making me go soft.

I do not move but let her come up to me, and she smells my hand, so I stay still for a moment, then lift a finger up to pet her cute paw, but she retreats, and I cannot help giggling.

"She's so freaking cute," I hold back from squishing her in my arms, and Matthew laughs but stands up. "Look when she runs," he walks away to establish some distance between us, and he squats down. "Baby," he calls her, and she makes her way to him, slowly running with her small legs.

He picks her up when she gets to him and straightens up, and I stand up too and heave my arms up. "Can I hold her?"

He smiles, tenderly, and he steps towards me but keeps her in one hand as she is nibbling on his finger. "I...I'd push that up if I was you," he peeks down at my chest, very briefly.

"That?" I touch my tank top, and he nods without looking again as if he was scared, so I pull the cleavage of it higher. "Why though?"

"She's a kitten, and...you know, I mean, the reason doesn't matter. You should take your chain off too because she loves playing with those, and I wouldn't want her to break it," he advices me to do, so I listen and hand him my chain since my skirt has no pockets, and he carefully holds it and gives me his kitten.

I take her in my arms as gently as if she was a newborn baby, and I turn around. "Jungkook! Look," I show him what I would want to adopt with him, and he leaves the kitchen but leans back on the island of it.

I know he is not happy about Matthew's presence, but I am pretty sure this kitten will brighten up his mood.

"She's cute, right?" I walk up to him while petting her. "Don't you want one? It will be our baby."

"No," he shakes his head but looks at her, crossing his arms and not showing any enthusiasm. "I— What? How could you not want such an adorable little creature?"

"I don't want any pet, so it's a no, and I won't change my mind," he does not seem to be unsure about his statement, making me feel disappointed and sad. I thought he would say yes.

"Why? Look how adorable she is," I carry her with two hands and bring her closer to his face, the three of us keeping quiet. He stares at her, and she lets out the cutest meow in front of him, getting him to crack a smile, but he walks away and pretends this did not happen. "I won't change my mind, baby."

"I know your heart melted," I expose him as he turned his back to us, and he does not even try to argue, so I look at Matthew and join him on the sofa to find some shared feelings about this kitten.

I leave Baby on my lap, and my best friend leans into my ear. "She made him weak, and he doesn't wanna admit it," he smiles, and I agree with him. "I know," I keep showering Baby with pets as she laid down on my thighs.

For a short moment, she remains relaxed and peaceful, enjoying it, then, suddenly, she goes insane and attacks my hand, but playfully, to my greatest relief.

I laugh without fearing the scratches, her small paws holding onto my index finger, and my focus drifts away when I notice Matthew drop my chain, which he must have forgotten in his pocket, on the coffee table.

He leans back on the sofa again but points his finger at my knee. "Did you hurt yourself?" he pokes the band-aid I had to put after finding out I injured myself in the shower from being on my knees.

That moment which keeps sending crowds of butterflies to my chest and stomach every time I think about it.

"No, it's just a little cut," I fear him to ask for more details. "Did you fall?"

"No, it's just a cut I got while...I was sitting down and I, like, moved and scratched my knee against that table," I touch the bottom of it with my foot after finding the best idea I could, and surprisingly, he seems to believe me. "I'm pretty sure you were being an idiot again."

"I'm not an idiot," I do not accept to be called that, and I look down at the kitten who got on its back to get some belly rubs. "Hm. Not sure."

I click my tongue and glare at him, and I whisper. "Don't insult me, or I'll tell Jungkook to throw you out the window."

"I don't think he's in a good state to do that," he makes a point I cannot contradict, and I do not deny my defeat. "Now, but he could do it another day."

"Then I won't ever come again," he never ceases bantering and looking for trouble, so I push him away and try to throw him on the cushions, but he laughs and prevents me from doing so by countering my strength with his.

"It's good to see you like that, I missed it," he mentions, and I set my eyes on him. "Joking. I'd never miss the rat you are," he instantly denies it, not being honest anymore when I know he was worried about me and Jungkook. "Aw. I knew you missed spending time with me."

"Shut up, and I'm gonna go back home now, so give me back my baby," he steals her away from me when she almost fell asleep on my lap, but I grip his arm. "No. Stay a little more, or just leave without her," I sneer and pretend to only care about the kitten, but he keeps her in his hand and brings his face closer to mine. "Your boyfriend's been sending me glares since earlier, so I'd rather not stay," he speaks in a low voice to not be heard by Jungkook, and he stands up.

I check what Jungkook is doing to see if this is true, but realize he has his attention over him.

"You can come to my house whenever you want to see her anyway," he gently puts her back in the pink travel cage and closes it. "But Jungkook didn't even pet her. Come do it now," I call him and gesture him to move towards me, but he stays where he is and refuses, so I act shocked. "Are you gonna let her be sad for not getting any care and love from you?"

"She doesn't care about me," he makes up an answer that can defend his behavior. "That is not true at all. Maybe she fell in love with you too, that's why she moewed when I put her in front of you. That was like a 'wow you're so handsome'."

He chortles and shakes his head. "She meowed 'cause she cursed at me," he carries on with more contradictions, so I let him think what he wants. "Sure! She hates you, you're right."

"I know I am," he dares to add more fuel to the fire, but knowing what he is doing, I pretend not to hear anything and say goodbye to Matthew. "You come back with her tomorrow, right?" I joke around, and he smiles. "No, I don't want my days to be numbered, if you know what I mean," he does not even have the guts to have a glimpse of Jungkook, and he opens the front door as I could not help but laugh. "Stop, they won't ever be unless you try to fight me."

"Ah yeah? You think you're a threat to me?" he raises his eyebrows and stands on the pathway, out of my boyfriend's sight, and I nod. "Yes. You've said it so many times, I'm a monster inside, so I must be very scary."

"Monsters can be small and harmless. Look at chihuahuas, they're little monsters to me. They're small, and they're loud aggressive as heck because they think they'll be scary that way, so keep that in mind," he defends his point with a whole book, but I stop him as he went back towards his car. "I was a rat and now I'm a chihuahua?! Stop projecting your flaws onto me just to feel better, okay? You are the small one."

"Look how loud and aggressive you're being right now. As always, so accept the truth and let me leave now," he walks away after stating something true, and I cannot reply with anything anymore to shoot back.

"Be careful on the way back home! Dumbass!" I say goodbye and show some care in my own way, and I discern a smile appear on his face from a distance. "See you, ugly rat!" he waves at me and enters his car to be alone with Baby, so I close the door.

I turn around to look at Jungkook but stumble upon his grumpy face. "You're done?" he does not move but stays still, leaning back on the kitchen counter with crossed arms.

I ignore what his jealousy made him let out in the spur of the moment, and I stick my body to his. "I know you found her cute. Why don't you want a kitten?"

"Don't change the subject. I don't ever want this fucking guy in my house again, alright?" he gets mad at Matthew's behavior for no reason when I thought it would be a little different after everything that happened. A sigh I could not hold in runs out, and I step back. "Why? What did he do that upset you?"

"Are you really asking me that?" he uncrosses his arms to drop his hands to the counter behind him. "I don't know, when he whispered in your fucking ear? Checked you out? Or the way he looks at you and keeps teasing you maybe?" he sarcastically frames them as questions, and I silently gaze into his eyes, sad to see him react that way and hate someone who would never cause any harm but be there for us both.

"Jungkook..." I cannot find the right words to say. "No matter what he does or feels, you'll always be the one I love."

"But no matter what you say, you'll still hang out with that guy, and he'll never stop doing that stuff but probably go further and further because his feelings for you will only grow bigger," he low-key suggests me to cut him off but states something that might be right. "Even if he does, I'll push him away. He knows how much I love you, so I don't think he'll ever try anything."

"Oh, you think so? Because I've known a lot of guys who liked the idea of having sex with their friend's or even brother's girl, so that doesn't mean anything to me. If you think that him knowing you love me will stop him from trying something, you're blindly trusting him because he's your best friend," he turns around to not face me anymore but serve lunch.

"I'm not blindly trusting him. I know we cannot trust anyone to the full, but if he was really a bad person, I'm pretty sure he would have tried something when I was alone with him at his house, yet, he didn't," I cross my arms and stand where I am to not bother him anymore. "So, he never touched you?" he stops what he is doing to fix his eyes on me. "He never put his hands on your thighs? Your hips, waist, or lower back? Uh? Didn't you tell me he tried to apply that fucking gel thing on your stomach the other day?"

"It wasn't with bad intentions, Jungkook..." I find it hard to keep going and argue with him, and for a few seconds, which feels horribly long, he stares deep into my eyes before saying anything. "So you're just gonna keep on defending him, is that it?"

"No, it's not. I just know a side of him you don't because you hate him," I hope for him to not get even more mad, but his eyes tell me he is way too much in a bad mood to hear those words and not lose it. "A side of him I don't?" he repeats my words in a poised voice, his behavior reminding me of someone I will never be able to love again. "You know what? Sure."

"Jungkook. Stop doing that, please. I'm sorry, alright? I won't ever let him come here again," I apologize for causing this and making him feel uncomfortable in his own house. "Whatever," he does not accept it but walks away to put one dish down on the dinning table. "Eat," he tells me and passes by me, breaking my heart.

"Are you mad at me again?" I do not ignore the problem like he wants to do. "No. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at this fucker, and I just can't stand to see you act that way with him."

"What do you mean 'act that way'? What did I do?" I ask him to speak and explain what is wrong, despite how nervous and worried this makes me. He walks back to the table and puts his dish down in front of mine. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But I want you to, keeping it to yourself is not going to help, and I need to know what I did wrong," I join him at the table and sit down to face him, but he stays quiet, so I decide to remember every little thing I have done in order to understand.

"I'm sorry if my behavior upset you, Jungkook. I was just happy to see the kitten—"

"Stop apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong," he raises his eyes up to me, not making any sense worth some contradictions. "Then why did you talk about the way I acted?"

"Because I'm jealous," he finally lets it out. "Those little things you do that make me feel a certain way, I hate to see you do them with him too," he says and softens all the tension there was inside of me. "But like what? I don't do anything special with him."

"Some things you unconsciously do, like, that tone of voice you use when you ask me for something, the way you look at me, or...when you hug me. Those types of things makes me feel a certain way, and I know that it must be the same for him because he's got a crush on you, so I hate it. I don't like to know that this guy gets to feel those things because of you," he releases himself from the heavy weight he needed to get off his chest, and I smile uncontrollably.

"And why don't you tell me those things instead of getting angry?" I rest my chin on my hand, and he keeps picking at his food. "Because I hate to admit it. I feel like an asshole when I have those thoughts or emotions."

"It would make it better if you were honest about it, you know. It kinda hurts when you get upset or sort of try to avoid me, I don't know, but if you told me straightaway how you feel, I would at least be able to know what to do," I move my arm down and lean back, and he copies my body language. "I know..."

He does not say anything as if he was uncomfortable, so I stand up and walk up to him. He quickly understands what I want to do and moves his arms away, and I sit astride his lap to hug him. His wraps his arms around my waist and squeezes me against his body.

"I'm sorry," I press my lips on his cheek, and he slides some fingers under my crop top to rub them over my ribs. "It's too late to apologize. I'll remind you of who's your boyfriend tonight," he puts a smile on my face, and I move my head back to look at him. "I know you are."

"Yeah, but I'll make you forget about this dude," he drags his fingers along my ticklish sides and stops them right at my thighs to cup them. "And I know he saw your hickey and didn't seem very happy."

"You scared him, and he left because of you," I take my arms off his shoulders but feel him sneak his hands under my skirt. "Good. I'm glad he got my message."

I chuckle and kiss his lips. "By the way," I drop my hands on his shoulders, nervously. "Would you mind if I try to work with you for the rest of summer?"

"Work with me? What do you mean?" he caresses my skin with the tip of fingers, my heart beating a little harder. "What if I apply for waitress or something at the coffee shop where you work? Your boss accepted an intern, so why not me after I freshly graduated."

"You can have a better job than the shit one I have, so don't waste your time being a waitress," he does not agree with the idea that made me excited, so I do not hold back from showing how sad this makes me. "But that would make me happy to be with you, and being a waitress is great."

"No, it's not, baby. Stop lying. It's a shit job, and as a woman, it's even worse," he ruins the plans I had in mind, so I try to convince him. "But not with you and Luca around, and it will help me become a strong woman."

"You're already strong enough, more than the man in front of you. Even if I know I'm a baby girl to you now," he never feels ashamed to bring it back up, and I laugh. "Do you like being my baby girl?"

"Yeah, your baby boy or baby girl," he nods and leans in to kiss my neck, and he pushes his hands inside my tight shorts that were supposed to be there to protect what is underneath. He does not move back but presses his soft lips on a lower spot and squeezes my thighs.

"Stop trying to make me think about something else," I pretend to not want it but enjoy what he is doing to my body, my back arching. "I'm gonna work with you and protect you from the mean people," I smile and push forward to rest my body on his, and he manages to grab the back of my thighs and heave me up to drop me right on his crotch, not being gentle but getting my shorts to ride up so high that it does not cover more than my underwear.

"Hey," I thrust my hips to get his attention, and he looks at me. "You're gonna regret it. I know how customers are, baby."

"Is it because I'm gonna be with you all the time? I won't annoy you if you—"

"Don't be dumb," he cuts me off but relieves me by contradicting my assumptions. I stare into his beautiful eyes and play with his hair in the back of his head while he is playing with the fat of my thighs and hips. "Why do you wear those shorts? They're useless."

"Well, I didn't expect you to put your hands under my skirt, and since it's short, I thought it was better," I swing my legs and leave my hands on his lower abdomen, his eyes remaining on mine. He grins and peeks down at my lips. "You can take them off when you're just with me. It's better."

"Really? And why is that?" I feign innocence and ignorance, constantly fidgeting on him. "I don't know. Just a suggestion. It must feel better when you don't wear them, doesn't it?"

"As long as I'm just with you, yeah," I lean forward and put my arms back around his neck, and his hands go up the back of my thighs to grab them but make me clench. "Don't wear them next time then."

"Alright, Sir," I smile and kiss him.

•••

10:40 pm.

After brushing my teeth and showering, I get out of the bathroom and immediately set my eyes on Jungkook, who is lying down on the bed and busy on his phone.

Loving the sight of his half naked body, I walk up to him and bother him. I climb onto him and lie down, and he drops his phone right away.