***Mature Warning***

"So what am I supposed to call you now?"

I looked at Taehyung over the tops of the cards spread out in my hands. After a day and a half of not speaking, he had finally come into the room where I had been staying with a deck of cards and a sheepish look. I had been entirely too bored to argue with a game of cards. Or ten.

I shifted on the pillow I was using as a floor cushion. "Morgan is fine. I don't feel like Natalia."

He watched me over his own cards before laying a couple down on a stack I had just placed.

"You don't look like her, either."

"Well, that's obvious. Kinda would've given the whole thing away pretty quickly if I did."

Taehyung snorted and grabbed the bottle of shoju beside him, taking a healthy gulp before handing it to me. I took a sip and laid down some cards. We didn't say anything else for a few moments as we took turns picking up and laying down cards.

"What was Natalia like," I finally asked.

Taehyung watched me with cold eyes before speaking. "You mean - what were you like."

"I think it's best if we just pretend that girl was someone completely different. Because she was. I feel like she was just a name. I have no connection to her or her life." I bit my lip and met his eyes. "Except for you guys."

With a sigh, Taehyung leaned back on his hands, stretching his back as he did. He looked out the window for a moment, lost in thought.

"She was tough. Cold sometimes. But she was goofy, too. Playful. I loved how strong she was and how she never let things get to her. But I hated how she never seemed to take anything seriously."

Something clenched in my chest as I watched emotions wash over him. He looked adrift on a raft in a vast sea of memories.

"Did everyone love her the same?"

"No. Of course not. It was different with all of us. I think she was closest to Namjoon and Jin, but she and Jimin had something special. I think that's why he took this harder than all of us. The way he grew up was the worst out of all of us. He was raised by the state. Never knew his parents. He got beat up pretty regularly, which is why it's so hard for him to trust anyone. Natalia was the first person he ever really got close to. He didn't even really open up to us until she came along. When she died, it was like part of him died with her. We all took it hard, but him most of all. I'm not sure if they were ever together like she was with me and some of the others. To me, she seemed more like his big sister."

I let my hands fall into my lap as I looked out the windows to my left. The sun was beginning its march into the sea, bruising the sky purple and blue. Shards of orange and pink raced across the horizon in a last-ditch effort to light the heavens before night took us in its grip. Taehyung's words swam around in my head, even as he stood and walked over to the kitchen.

"Part of me wondered about you when I first saw you up on the roof of the warehouse. It was too easy. Too much of a coincidence. But then you were different, too."

"Different, how?"

My heart melted a little when a boyish grin crossed his lips. "You were cuter. Less aggressive, but still confident. You acted like you had something to prove, but you were still sweet sometimes. Natalia wasn't really sweet." When his eyes met mine, that old familiar longing sparked back to life in the pit of my stomach. "I liked that you acted like you cared. I liked how you flirted with us."

Before the air between us could blossom from a smolder to a full-blown inferno, Taehyung looked away and busied himself with cleaning the remnants of our takeout from earlier. As his words settled on me, something he said came flashing to the surface.

"Wait. You said when you saw me on the roof. You mean you knew I was there before you caught me at your SUV?"

He turned back to me without meeting my stare, but his mouth was turned up into a devious smirk. Deadly and seductive.

"I knew you were there long before you came down from your perch. It was the only reason I ever went to that warehouse. We don't keep anything there except spare vehicles. I only went because I was curious about you."

I put my cards down and stood, letting my feet carry me to him without thinking. When I stood in front of him, he looked up at me without raising his chin. He was still guarded, but there was something else there. Something familiar that threatened to burn me alive.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the advertisements flashing to life on the buildings around us. I stepped closer to Taehyung so that only a wisp of air separated his torso from mine.

"Why were you so curious?"

He licked his lips as he glanced down at mine. "You were filthy. I'd never seen someone so dirty before."

My mouth dropped open. I smacked him on his shoulder. "I was homeless! What did you expect?"

He smiled that boxy smile that I loved so much while dodging another hit to his shoulder. We laughed for a moment before his eyes found their way back up to mine again. Unspoken words passed between us as his expression softened.

"But I thought you were beautiful, too. Even when I would catch you on the streets, I could tell how pretty you were under all that grime. I wanted to talk to you, but you were always on your guard. I didn't know how to get close to you."

"And then I gave you the chance when I tried to sleep in your car."

His smile faded as a new thought took him over. "I should have seen the signs that last night at the mansion. I should have never let you go. I should've made you stay with us."

Gravity pulled our lips together. We couldn't have resisted the draw of the other if we'd tried. I pressed my body flush against his, running my hands over the edges of his lats, past his chest and into his hair. His fingers dug into my hips before running over my back to pull me even tighter against him. I tilted into the kiss, my tongue crossing between his lips to run against his. He moaned into my mouth before reaching down and picking me up.

Carefully, he carried me into my room and laid me down on the bed. His weight was comforting on top of me as he pressed himself down into the space I'd made for him between my legs. I gasped into the darkness of the room as his free hand slid up my stomach, under my shirt, while the other braced beside me. He rolled his hips into mine as his teeth pulled lightly at my lips, jaw, and throat.

"Taehyng, please..."

"Ssh," he whispered as he brought his hand up to drag his thumb across my lips. "I'm going to take my time with you tonight."

I whimpered at the implications of his words as he reached down and wrapped my leg around his hips, deepening our contact. He hadn't even taken off any of my clothes yet and I was already wild with want. His breath was hot against my neck as he trailed tongue and teeth over my skin. Slowly, he brought his hands back up my body, catching my shirt and pulling it over my head. My bra quickly followed.

As the cool air blew across my bare chest, Taehyung pulled away so his eyes could wander over me.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered. My face flushed but before I could turn away, he caught my chin, keeping my eyes on him. "Don't look away. I mean it. I've missed you. Everything about you. I never thought I would feel this way again after Natalia died and even though you're technically her, it's different with you. Easier. Don't compare yourself to a ghost. I love you. Exactly the way you are right now."

Tears burned in my eyes as I stared up at him, unable to move or even breathe. He'd spoken words I didn't know I needed to hear so desperately until they were out of his mouth. I lifted my body off the mattress and took his mouth with mine, a whole new need taking over my actions.

Taehyung pulled away from me and pushed up so he could pull his own shirt off. I marveled at the sight of him. He wasn't as cut as Jungkook or even Namjoon, but he was broad and strong. I loved the fact that he had a little fat on his belly and couldn't resist running my hands over his stomach and chest, following the line of baby-fine hair that trailed down into the waistband of his pants. He shivered slightly as I undid the button and tugged open his jeans. While he shifted around to pull off his pants, I made quick work of my own so that when he crawled back on the bed, I could lean forward and take him into my mouth.

He gasped and jerked as I found him and ran my tongue over the length of him then moaned out, long and low. I started to find a rhythm with my mouth and hand just before he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back onto the bed.

"I want you, not your mouth." Once again, he was kissing me, his hand putting light pressure on my throat. The action was possessive and dominant, just the way I remembered him to be. Slowly, he arched his back, bringing his hips back to mine and then beyond. I whined against the pressure, but the sound was quickly swallowed by his mouth. His arms were wrapped around me, holding me close, pulling me into him just as he was gliding into me.

True to his word he took his time, moving slowly and deliberately so that every part of me was filled with every part of him. His kisses were deep and passionate, his touch lighting my skin on fire. His skin, covered by thin sheen of sweat, smelled like ozone and life - vibrant and fresh and deep. I couldn't wrap my body around him enough to satisfy my desire for him. My nails dug into his back in an effort to ground me to the Earth, but I was already flying high above it.

In that moment, we were two stars dancing ever closer to each other, destined for an explosion so bright, it would kill us both while creating something completely new.

When he neared his release, he buried his face into the crook of my neck biting me softly over and over. I arched my back, pressing my head into the covers, and cried out as he came while he said my name over and over again like a prayer.

"Morgan...fuck....I love you."

"I love you too, Tae."

I stared up into his gorgeous face as he pushed up, grunting as he thrusted the last of his essence into me, and traced the lines of his muscles. When he was spent, he held his head back and panted, but I grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him back down to me. He grinned into the kiss, his breath fanning out across my lips.

We didn't say anything else as we lay there, watching the fog slowly roll in off the river, obscuring the colorful advertisements of the city until the view from the window was nothing more than an abstract painting of flashing lights. Even after we fell asleep, I didn't let him go. I vowed to never let him go again.

But the thing about vows, that I didn't realize until much too late, was that they were way too easy to break.

Okay fam...sometimes I just think this story writes itself. I always choose the title of the chapter after I write it. I had forgotten BTS had a song called "The Stars" but when I saw it on the track list, I literally gasped because of that bit in there about the colliding stars. I don't know...I just thought that was low key beautiful how it worked out.

For those that don't know, I have a basic outline for my books with sign posts that I want to hit and an ending in mind that I'm working toward, but the rest I kind of just fly by the seat of my pants, discovering things along the way that tie stuff together. It's why I'm usually pretty bad at foreshadowing (though sometimes I get really fucking lucky). This, and the next, chapter are sign posts. I knew this was coming, I just didn't know the logistics. 

That said...you are really not ready for the next chapter...

Hide the white horses because it's about to get filthy in here...