Hours have gone by with no word from anyone. Time seems to be moving at a snail's pace as Taehyung and I stay inside by our collective cell phones, hoping we get some good news soon. Taking turns to take showers so that one of us can be readily available, we decide to not leave the apartment until we know more information.

Since Ethan was a part of the group chat, he saw my text message to all of our friends and has been the only one to respond solely to let me know that he'll inform me if there's any word on his side. I know that couldn't be easy for him to do, but I'm glad he's setting aside what just happened between us.

"Maybe the silence is a good thing." Taehyung states as he watches me run my fingers through my hair anxiously once again. "Maybe they're both still on their flights. It is a long trip."

I look over at him with my still puffy eyes from holding in my anxiety ridden tears and force a smile at his attempt to calm me when I know he's just as worried, "Maybe you're right baby."

He leans over and pulls me down so that my head can lay in his lap. Playing with my hair, he starts to hum a tune I've never heard before with his angelic voice.

One more hour.

Two more hours.

"Can someone please fucking call?!" Taehyung abruptly shouts out of frustration, startling me out of my trance, "I'm sorry jagi."

I shake my head, "It's okay baby. I get it."

My phone rings and I swiftly grab it to see who's calling. A sigh of some relief escapes me as I see that it's Madison.

"Hello?!" I worriedly answer.

"Hey, I'm sorry I missed your call earlier. We just woke up. Justin and I got pretty drunk last night. What's going on? Is everything okay?" She groggily replies.

"I take it you haven't seen the news or my message in the group text." I slouch back into the couch and pinch the bridge of my nose.

"No, I just saw you called. Hold on, let me read it." She taps away on her phone until I hear her say oh my God. "And no one has heard anything yet?"

"No. Nothing." I huff out in frustration.

"I'll be sure to let you know if I do. Oh my God, Ava!" Madison begins to tear up and I feel my own eyes grow wet as well.

"I know." My voice cracks and Taehyung reaches over to pull me into his side as he rubs my arm lovingly. I take a deep inhale through my nose and slowly exhale through my mouth, "I'll keep you up to date too. I love you."

"I love you too." She sniffles just before hanging up.

Letting my phone drop beside me with a bounce against the couch cushion, I try to clear my racing thoughts the best I can.

Taehyung kisses my temple as he begins to massage my shoulders. I had been trying to look after him this morning since it's his uncle on a plane, but I think him trying to take care of me is the kind of distraction he's needing to hold himself together. He's a man and a protector. All he wants and has ever wanted was to protect me. Sadly, there's some things in this world you can't protect the one you love from.

My phone dings with a few notifications making both of us jump at the sound as we both hover over my phone's bright screen to see if it's any news at all this time. We both perk up at the sight of the group text message.

Kinsley:
Hey guys! I just saw the
text from Ava about what
happened on the news.

Lucas:
We're both ok!
Just landed.
We have Uncle Kim in
our thoughts and prayers
too, Ava.

A partial weight has been lifted off of my shoulders knowing it wasn't two of my best friends at least, but the dark cloud still looms over us with the unknown for Uncle Kim.

Me:
Thank God you're both
ok! I'll let you guys know
when we know more.

Madison:
Thank God!
Justin & I are praying.
I love you, Ava!

Me:
I love you too, Maddie!

Emma:
Praying!

Megan:
Me too!

Me:
Thanks everyone!

Taehyung kisses my forehead as I finish responding to everyone. Leaning up, I place my phone on the coffee table next to his. Now we wait for the last bit of news. Knowing Taehyung would be the first one Uncle Kim would reach out to, we stare directly at his dark screen with hopes it will light up with a call shortly.

We decide to put on a show, hoping that it will make the time go by faster as I go and make us some cheeseburgers and fries for lunch. Taehyung tries calling the hospitals as well as the airport again, but they're still not relaying any information at this time.

I walk back over to him, handing him a beer instead of a soda and he gives me a weird look in return.

"It's only one in the afternoon." He quirks an eyebrow, but takes the glass bottle from my hand anyway.

"We could both use a drink." I watch him take a large gulp and smack his lips at the taste. Looks like I was right.

The hamburger patties sizzle on the skillet while the fries pop in the oil inside of a large pot, grabbing my attention to head back into the kitchen to attend to the food. Deciding to cook was a nice distraction and looking back at Taehyung, I believe the series he said he'd been watching is helping him as well. His mouth slightly hangs open as his eyes stay locked onto the television screen. The adorable vision causes me to smile since the first time I heard the brief news story this morning.

While plating the food, Taehyung walks over to join me at the kitchen island. His sweat pants and hoodie combo from last night still adorning his body as he refused to go back to Uncle Kim's house to change in case we got any news.

"I'm sorry our first official day back together ended up like this." He says taking a bite of the cheeseburger I just handed over to him.

"It's not your fault babe. Neither one of us could have known." I lean my head on his shoulder as I sit down next to him and he feeds me one of his fries.

For a brief moment, despite everything going on, it felt like old times between us. As if we were just two people in love, hanging out on a normal Saturday afternoon with nothing but time on our side. That is, until a call came through on Taehyung's phone.

Looking at the screen, we both see that it's his father calling. Which draws even more concern given the current time in Korea right now.

"Yeoboseyo?" Taehyung cautiously answers the phone.

I can't hear anything that is being said no matter how hard I try, but the pained look on his face and the lone tear beginning to stream down has me extremely worried. My heart pounds ferociously as I wait for him to tell me what's going on and I silently pray it's not the news I'm fearing it is.

"Ne, she's right here....okay...I will...nado saranghaeyo." His voice cracks as he opens his eyes again to hang up the phone.

He turns to me as he looks down with a couple of tears dripping from his cheeks as my mouth hangs open in anticipation. Grabbing my hands, he watches his thumb gently rub across my skin before looking up to meet my gaze with watery eyes.

"Tae?" My voice is up half an octave.

He clears his throat, trying to hold it all together as he slowly looks up to meet my eyes with his heartbroken ones and with one deep breath, he tells me everything I prayed not to hear, "The hospital contacted my father. Uncle Kim was on that flight. He-he didn't make it."

My brow knits as the pool of a shattered heart physically appeared in the form of warm liquid pouring out of my eyes, "He's dead?"

Taehyung nods, unable to respond to the fateful words I just spoke. Grabbing me and pulling me into his arms, we hold on to each other as if we were everything we both needed in that moment. The last thing either of us expecting to happen in our lives being thrown our way. An angel on this earth being taken from us way too soon and too suddenly.

Plans on having him walk me down the aisle if Taehyung and I get married in place of my father are torn away from me. Plans Taehyung had of making Uncle Kim proud with what he had planned for the company whisked away from being a possibility. Visions of seeing him playing with our future children completely obliterated.

It isn't fair!

He was the parental figure I needed and the most nonjudgmental, loving person I knew. The literal definition of selfless and patient.

He didn't even get a chance to marry the woman he loved.

Pulling away and peppering my face with kisses, Taehyung lifts my chin to look up at him, "Are you okay?"

"No. Are you?" I ask through a stuttering breath.

He shakes his head, "No."

"We'll get through this." I do my best to be strong in a moment where I feel nothing but weak.

"Together." He adds.

"Together."

He looks at his phone, staring at it for a few moments without even blinking, "I should make some phone calls. The company will need to know and I'll need to get some other things in place. I'll need to contact someone regarding getting him back to Korea for a burial. I have a lot of things to do."

"Baby," I reach out and grab his hand, "you can do all of that later. It doesn't have to be right now."

He stands and grabs his phone off of the kitchen island next to his plate of food, "No, I need to do it now. I can't just sit here."

Watching him walk away as he dials away on his phone, eventually stopping in front of my bedroom door and he paces back and forth while talking to whoever, I know that it's just his way of dealing with death right now. There's no playbook to this. No right or wrong way to process this information and if staying busy in this moment is what he needs then I just need to be around to help when I can.

Informing the company of the loss of his beloved family member, he sounds professional but it's all too clear that he's barely hanging in there. With every sentence that he has to repeat, I see the irritation stiffen in his face.

I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him tightly. Not for my own needs, but to let him know he's not alone and to be a support for him. While wrapping his free arm around me, he squeezes me back. The tone of his voice softening enough to keep him from snapping on whoever it is he's speaking with.

"Thank you." He whispers down to me before kissing the top of my head.

I look up to him with sympathetic eyes, wishing there was more that I could do. As much as I loved Uncle Kim, he was like a second father to Taehyung. Someone he confided in more than anyone else and someone he also considered one of the most trusted people in his life.

After arrangements were made with the company, he wasted no time in hopping on the next call regarding getting his body flown back to Korea. I take a seat on the couch, needing a moment to process as I start to feel numb. Each blink slowly becomes a stare as I hold my knees to my chest. The hands on the clock become hypnotic as I watch it go around and around with every passing second. My own mind torturing me as I start to wonder what Uncle Kim's thoughts were in his final moments and praying he didn't have to suffer.

"I don't give a fuck how much it costs, just fucking arrange for it to happen!" Taehyung yells into the receiver in a deep demanding voice that I've never heard come out of him before making me jump and the tears I was holding in start to trail down my face.

"I'm sorry gongju." He lowers his phone down to his side as he walks over to me, squatting down beside me and placing his forehead on my lap as if he's begging for forgiveness. Raising the phone back up to his ear, he takes a deep breath, "I'm sorry. Just please make the arrangement. I'll pay whatever it costs."

Turning around to sit down next to me, he eases his head back to rest on me as I run my fingers through his hair. His puffy, reddened eyes and tear stained cheeks break my heart. I wish I could fix this and find a way to pull out his boxy smile again. I wish there was a way to mend both of our broken hearts, but this isn't something that can be easily repaired.

He finishes his call and drops the phone onto the floor with a loud thud as he covers his face with both of his hands. His left hand slowly glides up to gently grab on to my wrist, pulling it down to his face so that he can press his cheek into the palm of my hand. It's no surprise that he's stressed and no doubt doing all he can to be strong. I just wish he knew he didn't have to be right now. I really hope he's not feeling like he has to be strong for me.

"Tae?" I softly get his attention.

"Hmm?" He looks up at me from the floor with his head tilted back.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Anything you need from me?" I move the bangs away from his forehead, making his heavy emotion ridden eyelids shut and open slowly.

"Hold me." He looks up at me as a tear rolls down his temple and disappears in his dark strands.

I nod, tapping the couch asking for him to join me. He stands up only to sit down in front of me and leaning down to lay in between my legs with his head on my chest. His arms wrap around me tightly as I do the same with mine, rocking him slowly.