After picking out a cashmere scarf that matched the new handbag Ria had purchased for her mother, they had agreed to catch a movie at the cinema within their mall. Smells of freshly made popcorn fills the air as they walk up to purchase their tickets, deciding on a random romantic comedy that they had both agreed looked enjoyable when they saw the ad for it.

The lights inside of the theater were dim, but still bright enough to not trip on the way up the stairs to the row in the middle that they usually opted for. Only four other people took up space in the seats surrounding them as the large screen played ads before the previews. Taehyung knew he still seemed a bit awkward as he glanced around the small room, but thankfully he was able to convince Ria that it was due to just not wanting to get caught playing hooky. Until he could figure out what was going on with him when he was around her, he refused to talk to her about any of it.

When the lights slowly fade away, he visibly relaxes as he slouches a little further into his seat next to her while she made herself a bit more comfortable as well. Previews for upcoming movies play through the reel enticing them to spend way more money than they should in the future. Tae's eyes crinkle as he begins to laugh at one of the funnier scenes and notices Ria looking over at him and smiling at his reaction.

The last bit of ads begin to play as he reaches over to grab the drink they bought to share resting in the cup holder in between them, both of them flinching when they feel their fingertips touch.

"Sorry," She whispers in an attempt to not disturb anyone else, "go ahead."

Shaking his head, he points to the cup before leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Ladies first."

His breath against her skin made her squirm in her seat and her teeth sink into her bottom lip, unable to turn her face in time for him to not notice. Feeling frozen for a second as he studied her body language, he eventually forced himself to sit back and lean towards the opposite direction while trying to not give away his own thoughts.

Seconds felt like hours as he wondered when she was going to reach for the soda again, hoping that whatever that was just now didn't make anything awkward between them. He knew her well enough to know that whenever she would shift in her seat or bite her lip that she felt nervous. The last thing he wanted was to risk pushing away one of the most important people in his life. On top of it all, if she became distant, he'd also lose Izzy.

He finally sees her reach up and grab the drink out of his peripheral view and undetectably exhales. The room goes completely dark before the opening credits light up their faces again when he notices Ria has shifted to lean more towards him, giving him the signal that she wasn't completely uncomfortable with him now after all.

"Hey." She taps on his thigh to get his attention and crooks her finger to coax him to lean towards her. Tae felt nervous at all of the possible things she may want to say to him and worried about how he would even be able to respond while he leaned over so she could speak to him, "I got asked out on a date by my neighbor. Do you remember Andrew?"

His heart dropped at her words but just nods his head in response.

"Well, would you be able to watch Izzy Saturday night for me?" She turns her head to look at him.

Unlike before, he wanted more than anything to tell her no. To find a way to sabotage her plans and keep her all to himself. More than anything, he wanted to come up with an excuse as to why he was unavailable in hopes she wouldn't go out at all.

His throat felt like the Sahara desert as he took a large gulp of the soda, hoping to buy himself some time as he thought as quickly as he humanly could.

But, alas, he couldn't tell her no. At least not until he could figure out what's been eating at him lately and not until he could discover what's been threatening to compromise his sixteen-year friendship. There was always a possibility that it would go back to normal, right?

"Yeah," He whispers, setting the drink back into the cup holder carefully, "of course I'll watch Izzy. Sure."

"Thank you." She smiles at him, putting her head on his shoulder like she always did when they went to a movie together.

What was it that had been going on with him? He had felt an obvious surge of jealousy once before as he remembered the other day when Brandon and the other guys from college started teasing him about that party they had before Ria got pregnant:

»»————-　Flashback　————-««

The music played loudly, but not loud enough to drown out the cheers and chants of the drunken college kids playing beer pong, taking shots, and dancing as if it was a rave in an old warehouse instead of a frat house. Taehyung stumbled down the hallway with his solo cup in his hand as he tried his hardest to not trip over any of the mess or walk directly into the couples making out in the hallway.

It was a typical Saturday night in his university home. Nick and Brandon were always sure to throw a huge party the first Saturday of every month, but it didn't stop the rest of the weekends from being filled with booze and boobs either. Not that Taehyung was complaining. He was a single, attractive man. Having officially turned twenty-one less than two months ago, he discovered a newfound freedom in not worrying about getting caught drunk on campus grounds anymore.

Finding one of the hottest chicks currently at the party, he strides up to her and pushes his front to her back as she continued to dance. When she turned around to see who it was, he simply winked at her and was happily granted her approval.

The front door opened and closed throughout the night so much that he didn't even notice Ria walking in with some of the girls she had made friends with. It wasn't until Logan tapped Tae on the shoulder as he was hazily watching the hot girl bent over in front of him, that he realized his best friend had finally arrived. Three hours later than he had expected, he might add.

Looking over in her direction, she seemed to be moving in slow motion. Her long chocolate brown hair flowed as if it was as soft as a cloud when she flicked it over her shoulder revealing supple, glowing skin. The genuine smile laced on her plump lips shone brighter than the sun and her pretty brown eyes spotted him in the crowd as if he was the only other person in the room.

Shaking his head, he tries to get himself together, chalking it up to being more drunk than he had initially thought. Abandoning the girl he had been dancing with for the last hour, he heads straight to Victoria with his arms extended for her as if he was being pulled by some magnetic force.

"You made it!" Taehyung yells over the music as he hugs her tight, lifting her off of the ground. The bigger than usual hug gave him the pleasure of hearing the sound of her beautiful laugh, "What took you so long? I thought you weren't going to come."

"Of course I'd be here! I always keep my word, don't I?" Ria yells back as he sets her back down onto two feet. Cupping his face with her hand after she reached up to brush some of his hair away, he was unable to control the feeling of melting into her touch.

Once again, chalking it up to the alcohol.

"I've been drinking." He snort laughs, handing Ria his cup.

"I see that." She giggles, taking a sip of his extremely strong alcohol mixture and hissing at the burn it left in her throat, "How many of these have you had?"

"Um," Taehyung cutely looks up to the ceiling as he racks his brain for the number he's looking for, "Three? Four? No, three. Almost four."

Shaking her head, she grabs his hand to lead him away from the constant coming and going of the front door. His skin felt like fire against hers, a fire he wishes would never burn out. A moment of small reality comes back to him when she plops him down in a chair while she goes to search for some water for him, knowing he probably didn't have enough to drink that day anyway. The loss of her touch made him question why he feels so strongly attracted to her tonight.

"Did she do something different to her hair? Her makeup, maybe?" He thought to himself as he kept his hooded eyes trained on her, "No, she always wears her hair and makeup like that."

"Here." She hands him over a bottle of water, "Drink, please. I don't want you getting dehydrated."

"You're always taking care of me." He smiles as he struggles to take the cap off and giggles when it spills down his shirt a bit, "Whoops!"

"What am I going to do with you?" She shakes her head with an amused grin, grabbing some paper towels on the counter behind her and dabbing away at his soaked black tee.

The smile on Tae's face begins to fade as he watches her gently press the wadded-up white paper towel onto his chest, feeling a sense of warmth run over him as he softly grabbed her wrist and looked up at her, "Love me forever?"

"Well, that's a given." She pulls back, throwing the paper towel into the trash can, "I saw that you and Bridgette seemed to be hitting it off out there." She nods towards the living room with a grin where the dancing still commenced.

"Nah," He shook his head, "just goofing around."

"Don't let me stop your fun. Go! I'll be around."

Before he could protest and tell her that she's the only one he wanted to be around at that party anyway, the guy from her English Lit class walks up to her and kisses her passionately. He felt disgusted at the sight, turning his head away immediately.

Sure, she had told him she's been on a couple of dates with this guy and that they've even had sex, but seeing her actually being tongued down in front of him was almost enough to make the bile rise in his throat. The feeling alone was strong enough to confuse him through his drunken state of mind. She was just his best friend. Why did he care now?

Giggling, Ria pushes on his chest to get him to stop before turning her attention back to Taehyung, "Miles, this is my best friend, Tae. Tae, Miles."

Taehyung's face was flat and unimpressed as he eyed the man standing in front of him with his stupid man bun and obnoxious v-neck white T-shirt, "Sup?"

Miles holds out a hand for his but frowns at Ria when he didn't accept his offer.

She furrows her brow at Tae in disapproval before looking up at Miles, "He's had a lot to drink. Maybe I could reintroduce you two some other time."

"No need." Taehyung huffs, standing up and pushing his body through the middle of the two on his way back to find that one hot chick. What did Ria say her name was again? Oh, right... Bridgette.

Grabbing a hold of the girl's wrist, she spins around and smiles when she sees Taehyung is back to dance with her, but her words are put on pause as he crashes his lips to hers. Even in his most drunken state, he was a damn amazing kisser. Something he prided himself on ever since he learned how to make out with his first real girlfriend in ninth grade.

He inwardly chuckled at himself at the disoriented feelings he even had towards his best friend tonight. It was just the alcohol! And Britney, Bridgette... whatever... was who he was really wanting. It was so obvious!

Stomping into the living room, Ria grabs a hold of Taehyung's shoulder and abruptly turns him around to look at her, "Why are you being a jerk?"

"Me being a jerk?! You're the one being a jerk, Victoria!" Taehyung barks back over the loud music while whatever her name is stood beside him with her arms crossed in front of her.

"How the fuck am I being a jerk?"

"I don't know! You're just being jerk-ish! Doing jerk things and not caring about anyone else!" He knew he wasn't making sense, but it was like word vomit at that point. Not being in the most stable mindset, how could he even process what he felt to be able to tell her the real reason he was being an asshole?

"Ugh! We'll talk about this tomorrow!" She throws her hands in the air as she walks away, wrapping her arm around Miles' waist and leaving Taehyung in the middle of the room.

"Fuck!" He curses loudly before turning back around to forget everything with Brooke, Bridgette... what- the fuck -ever!

She shakes her head at him with her eyebrow quirked up, "Too much drama for me."

Taehyung tries to explain but stops when she begins making out with his frat brother, Brandon, instead. Annoyed that this keeps happening to him tonight, he gives up and chunks the water bottle Ria gave him into a random corner and opted for an unopened can of beer he saw sitting on one of the smaller tables instead.

Cracking it open, he sits down on the edge of the stairs and takes a large drink. How could his Ria be so frustrating now? The two barely ever fought. They only would have minor disagreements that usually ended up in them laughing at each other until neither one of them cared anymore. But she was right, he was being a jerk to the guy she's dating and he knew that, but he didn't know why. Tae didn't understand why all of the sudden he felt a rage boiling up inside of him so how could he explain it to her?

The front door swings open again, making Taehyung's eyes glance up in that direction. The visual of Ria straddling the guy he now loathed as she made out with him while he ran his hands up and down her back didn't piss him off this time. This time his heart felt like it was ripping into tiny little pieces.

Brandon, Nick, and Logan all walk up to him, blocking his heartbreaking view as Taehyung sets down the beer and drops his head so that his hands can grip onto his hair in hopes that the slight sting may make him forget the pain elsewhere.

"Dude, why don't you just tell her?" Nick questions.

"Tell her what?" Taehyung pops his head up to look at the three of them.

"That you love her. It's clearly killing you inside." Logan adds, "We can all tell."

"I'm not in love with her. We're-"

"Just friends." They all say in unison.

"Look at you, though." Brandon gestures with his hands, "I would not act like that if I saw a friend of mine making out with someone."

"You're at least jealous." Nick states, reaching out for Taehyung's hand to help him stand up.

"I'm not-"

"You definitely are." Logan cuts him off with a chuckle, "Go lay down. You've had enough for tonight and the last thing we need is to bail you out of jail for beating up an English Lit major with a man bun."

"Fuck his stupid man bun!" Taehyung yells in the direction of the front door when he stands up as if Miles could even hear him.

"Fuck his stupid man bun!" The three frat brothers shout together to show their solidarity while turning Taehyung in the direction of his bedroom upstairs.

They watch him make thudding steps up the staircase and turn in the direction of his bedroom before scattering off themselves to enjoy the rest of their night.

And that's all Taehyung could recall of that night. Most of it was actually pieced together by his fraternity brothers, but some of it he remembered vividly. Like seeing Ria lost in someone else's arms.

Had he been feeling this way about her longer than he realized? Had he just assumed it was a platonic love this whole time solely based on the number of years they've known each other and it's been so much more to him all along?

"Do you not like the movie? You haven't laughed once." Ria inquires, grabbing Taehyung's hand.

That familiar sense of fire runs under her touch as he looks at her small hand on his, "Nah, I'm good. Sorry."

"We can talk if something's bothering you. You know that." She offers her friendship to him. He stops staring blankly at the movie as he looks at her instead.

"I'm good, Victoria." He smiles without it touching his eyes before turning his head away once again.

"You called me Victoria." She whispers to herself with a frown as she moves her hand back to her lap.