Yesterday, after they got back home from picking out furniture, they received an unpleasant call from the attorney that the charges were unsurprisingly dropped but the protection order was at least granted. However, regardless of this news, Taehyung and Ria had no choice but to go back to their normal schedules including going to work. Neither of their bosses were going to allow them to be out of work for too long and bills still needed to be paid.

That morning, the two of them got dressed and ate breakfast in damn near silence with only a few quiet excuses me's shared and asking each other to pass the cereal. Ria attempted to softly smile at him a few times as an attempt to get him to believe that she was mentally okay with moving on with life but she tends to forget that he can see right through her.

When the call from the attorney came through and with the unappealing added information of Miles being released from jail late last night, they had agreed to keep Izzy in their parent's care a little bit longer. He knew how much it hurt her to come to that decision. There was no doubt in his mind that she was missing Isabelle so much that it hurt as he was too, but keeping her safe was their first priority.

Tae just hopes they can keep themselves safe as well.

The protection order, while better than nothing at all, did little to ease their minds. What would Ria do if Miles showed up unexpectedly just like he did a week ago? Throw the paper in his face? Yes, it does make it easier for him to get arrested if he pulls another stunt but who's to say that she would be able to stay safe?

Pulling into her building, Taehyung shuts off his car and walks around to open the door for her while she finishes applying her mascara in the visor mirror. At least for now, Taehyung made it a point that he would drop her off, walk her to her office, and pick her up from work every day. He may have failed to keep her safe the first time but he'd be damned if he lets it happen again.

Walking right behind her and scanning the parking garage for anything out of the ordinary or the black sedan Ria has mentioned, his ears catch the sound of her breathing becoming more and more unsteady as they approach the elevator doors. Stopping in her tracks, she turns to face Taehyung while her eyes glistened with tears and her hands began shaking at her sides, breaking his heart at the sight of her desperately trying to not fall apart again.

"I- I, uh..." She struggles to find the words, her bottom lip quivering as she fights back her emotions.

"I'm here." He whispers, pulling her into his arms to try to calm her panic-stricken state, "I'll be here the whole time."

Nodding, she sniffles as he wipes away the small tear at the corner of her eye, careful to not mess up her makeup.

Taehyung wasn't even around that day, yet just knowing that he's standing right where everything went down makes him feel uneasy. He can't even begin to imagine the anxiety the woman still being held in his arms must be going through. Staring up at the elevator doors, he can almost picture the entire thing as the details she told both him and the police echo in his mind.

The things he would do to go back to that day to save the woman he loves from harm.

"Do you think he'll show up again, even with the order?" She questions quietly as she watches other employees nonchalantly walk towards the elevator as well.

He wants to tell her that she has nothing to worry about but how could he lie to her like that? Truth be told, he has no clue what extent Miles will take this obsession he has with Victoria. Aside from that, he doesn't want her to let her guard down so soon because, in just a few minutes, they will be parting ways for the next few hours, and for the first time since Miles laid his filthy hands on her, Tae won't be around.

"I don't know, baby... I don't know." He kisses the top of her head and turns her so that he can continue to safely walk her to her office.

As soon as the elevator dings, she slightly flinches from the sound and he holds onto her hand tighter as the doors begin to close with them inside. He hopes she can one day work through this post-traumatic stress she's still dealing with; elevators being an obvious trigger.
If her office wasn't located on the nineteenth floor, he would have suggested for them to take the stairs but unfortunately, this is the only other option they have.

Glancing around, his eyes fixate on the wall where Ria mentioned she was pinned by her neck until she was eventually dropped to the ground and almost sexually assaulted as well. A heavy lump seems to form in his throat as he swallows down his anger and focuses his attention back on his girlfriend holding onto him securely as her eyes remained closed.

After what feels like an eternity, the elevator doors reopen to the nineteenth floor and Ria quickly steps out, unable to stand the feeling of being in that enclosed space any longer than necessary.

Grabbing her hand, Taehyung softly smiles as their eyes meet during their trek down the brightly lit hall until finally reaching the frosted door with the cursive black lettering. Still, Ria doesn't let go of his hand.

"You said you don't have to leave the office, right? One of your colleagues will go to the venues and dress fittings for you?" He questions as he pulls them aside when a happily engaged couple walking hand-in-hand needs to go inside.

"Yeah, either Jane or my boss said they'd go in my place for a while. I'll be staying in my office handling phone calls and paperwork."

Reaching up, he smooths out her hair, "I'll be here around twelve-thirty for lunch. Wanna just eat in your office for today?"

"I'd like that. Text me as soon as you're in your office, please." She pleads, letting out a slow exhale.

"I promise." Bowing his head slightly, he sweetly plants a lingering kiss upon her lips, grinning when he feels her body relax in his arms, "I love you."

"I love you." She grins and forces herself to step away to open the office door.

Taehyung waits until she's fully inside, slightly chuckling when he hears her bubbly assistant happily greeting her for her first day back. Hopefully, she'll be so distracted with work and Jane that she'll be able to relax a bit in the safety of her office. That's really all he can hope for as he makes his way back down to his waiting car.

Unfortunately, he wasn't greeted with such a cheerful welcome back as Ria was. Mrs. Green and Chasity made sure to stop by his office, bringing him a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies from the older assistant and Chasity was firm about letting him know that he should inform her if he needed help with anything while he tried to catch back up. His boss, on the other hand, seemed more annoyed that he took so much time off of work for his and Ria's safety, regardless of him originally agreeing to it, and bombarded him with a list of things he expects to be done by the end of the week.

Before he did anything else, though, he sent the promised text to Ria to let her know he was safe inside of his office, not wanting to worry her any more than she already is. Looking back at her building behind him, he sighs knowing she's not far but yet too far away at the same time and the tension taking over his body with his jaw clenched tightly reminded him of that fact through every passing second.

Trying to focus on the work in front of him, he finds himself breaking pencil after pencil, pressing entirely too hard on accident onto the sheets of paper on his desk. His eyes constantly flit to his cellphone every time the screen lit up with any sort of notification, terrified that he was going to receive another call like the one Ria made that fateful day. Her smiling face on the wallpaper photo used to make his heart skip a beat but now it just reminded him of better days before she ever endured such a hateful act towards her. 

She didn't deserve any of that! He knew no one else in this world more loving, accepting, or understanding than her. It wasn't just the simplicity of her vanity that made her beautiful. Sure, her honey-colored eyes that glistened in the sun along with her luscious long brunette hair that flowed against her smooth skin that glowed ethereally in the moonlight was enough to make any random person with two working eyes call her gorgeous but her heart is what truly made her beautiful.

Why do such shitty things have to happen to those who least deserve it and why couldn't he have done more to protect her?

He knew, he fucking knew, something was wrong! He had a gut feeling from the moment they left their house that fateful morning, thus the reason why he begged her to check in with him so much. Why the fuck didn't he listen to his own intuition?!

Dropping the pencil in his hand after breaking another one, he tightly fists his dark hair as he groans in agony at the pain radiating in his chest. The stark white paper becomes dotted with tears falling from his firmly shut eyes as he begins to sob alone. He wasn't even crying for his own sake but for the woman he loves more than he loves himself. 

Finally, he was in a place secluded enough to let all of the emotions he had been holding in be released without the worry of Ria seeing him and doing as she always had; put her own stresses on hold to be there for him. He loved that about her, he truly adored how selfless she is, but he needed to be strong for her this time and return all of those years of selfless love.

But damn was it hard to hold it all in as if everything was fine!

How does she do it? How did she walk around with the most beautiful smile in the world and so much distress on her heart? How did she get up every morning and make breakfast for Izzy knowing she cried herself to sleep the night before? And with hindsight being twenty/twenty, how did she sit there and listen to him complain about completely meaningless worries and things knowing she had a heavier weight on her shoulders the entire time? More importantly, how stupid was he to not see what all she had been going through?

She had broken down in front of him from the amount of stress she was holding in that night in her apartment after she first contacted Miles and still, he didn't quite understand the ripping feeling she must have been feeling in her heart but he certainly feels it now. Now he understands the sheer physical pain of harboring such worries in one's soul and it made him both hate it and appreciate Ria for how strong she truly is.

He just hopes she holds onto that strength now more than ever.

A soft knock on his office door alerts him and he quickly readjusts his posture, wiping away the wetness from his cheeks and crumpling up the ruined paper on his desk as he sniffles, "Come in!"

"Hey, Taehyung, Mr. Whitmire-" Mrs. Green pauses her thought as she looks at the young man with his red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks pretending to act as if he's fine while he exhales a stuttering breath, "Taehyung, sweetie." She softly sympathizes as she turns to quietly shut his door to give them some privacy.

Finally meeting her gaze, he breaks under her maternal observation. Folding into himself, he lowers his head as he continues to uncontrollably cry. Walking up to him, she holds him in her arms as she rubs his back and cares for him as she would her own children that are around his age.

"It's okay, let it all out." She coos lovingly, "It's okay to be scared or hurt. It's okay to be weak when you need to be."

Unable to reply right away, he just hugs her as tight as he can while noticing her perfume is the same one his mother likes to wear, letting it bring him a small sense of comfort. It takes at least five minutes for him to pull himself together and as he finally lifts his head again to look the woman in the eyes. Gently wipes away his tears with the pads of her thumbs, she nods her head with a smile.

"You're a good man, Taehyung." She reassures him, "That young lady is lucky to have you."

Shaking his head, he lets his shoulders sag some more, "I let her down."

"Listen to me. You can't save her from every single thing in life. Neither one of you expected anything like this to happen. You can't go blaming yourself for the actions of others. Just be there for her... for each other, and you two will be just fine." She nods her head with raised eyebrows, coaxing Taehyung to do the same.

"I'm so worried all of the time now." He admits.

"That's because you love her." She smooths out his hair that became disheveled from his heartbreak, "And here's a little fact for you, that worry you feel for Miss Victoria and her little girl, that's going to always be there now. Just you wait until you two have a little one of your own, it'll get even worse!"

Chuckling, he rolls his eyes and slouches back in his seat, "How will I survive?"

"You'll be just fine." She grins at him sweetly. Looking back over to the files she placed on his desk, she glares at his shut office door, "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Mr. Whitmire said he wants rough sketches of the community center by tomorrow afternoon. Fucking prick."

Gasping with a giggle, he looks at her in bewilderment, "Mrs. Green! Such language!"

Shrugging her shoulders, she hands him a tissue and grabs a hold of the files she still needed, "Well, it's true."

Looking back out of the window, he takes a deep breath and runs his hand through his hair, "We're going to be okay, right?"

Rubbing his shoulder while looking out of the window towards Ria's building with him, she sighs unknowingly, "Just be smarter than him, honey."

Nodding, he grabs his phone to send Ria a text to just tell her he loves her one more time, feeling like he couldn't let her know it enough today.

Mrs. Green walks back out of his office, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more. Just as he's finding himself overthinking and brooding over every small detail again, he hears his text message ringtone ding with a response.

My Ria:

I love you too!
Jane is keeping me 
plenty of company
today. 

What do you 
think about her and
Chasity joining us for
lunch?

It'd be a welcomed
distraction.

Smiling at her text, knowing she's focusing on being a matchmaker instead of meditating on negative thoughts and energy like he had been allowing himself to do today, he looks back over at her office window before typing out his response.

I wouldn't mind.
I'll talk to Chasity and
let you know what she
says.

And just so you know,
I'm so proud of the woman
you are. 

You're my inspiration.

My Ria:

Have you been reading
romance novels again?

Kidding :)

Thank you xo

You inspire me too!

Clearing his throat, he ruffles his hair before pressing the button on his office phone to alert Chasity.

"Hey, anything I can help you with?" Chasity answers the intercom with an empathetic tone.

"Ria asked if you'd like to join us for lunch in her office. Would you like to?" 

"I'd love to. Thank you!"

Glancing back at the text from Ria mentioning Jane, he shakes his head and rolls his eyes with a grin before responding, "And her assistant just might be joining us, too."

Hearing Chasity quickly pick up the receiver to get the phone off of the intercom, Taehyung overhears her drop it on her desk before she clears her throat out of embarrassment.

"Is she cute?" She whispers.

"Chasity, I'm not answering that." He laughs and shakes his head as he picks up an unbroken pencil.

"Is this you trying to pay me back for messing up my hookup in Miami?"

"Nope. This is my girlfriend being the sweet little matchmaker she is. But I'll take the credit if it works out." He smirks as he starts to roughly sketch out the new building plans for the community center, apparently due by tomorrow afternoon.

"Men," she scoffs in feign annoyance towards him, "always taking credit for a woman's work."

"Shut up and meet me at the exit by twelve-twenty." He chuckles.

"See you then." Chasity ends their call causing the device to make three small beeps informing him of her hanging up.