It had been a few days since Jimin had returned from his evening with the girls. Even though he still kept to himself most of the time, he appeared to be slowly mending the broken pieces as he tried to cope with the trauma, which wasn't always easy. Taehyung was shocked when he found his best friend sitting at the dining table the next morning, a bowl of cereal in front of him.

A week had passed since Raven's death, and even though Jimin wanted to try his best to remain strong and move on, he couldn't. Talking to the girls that night helped though, especially just letting everything out in that room with Cherry. It felt nice to lose control and to be held, especially when he felt like he was falling apart.

Charlie on the other hand had spent most of her time trying to distract herself from everything, overworking herself in the training room. Jungkook was also there to support her through it all, and over the past couple of the days, the two had been working on trying to figure out the new dynamic of their relationship.

The title "friends" was no longer a suitable label. Friends don't share stolen kisses in the halls or use sparing as an excuse to get close to each other. Friends don't feel jolts of electricity from small touches or send flirty texts late in the evening when everyone else is tucked in bed and sleeping soundly.

Charlie and Jungkook were laughing as they walked upstairs after a very long sparring session. She slightly leaned into him as she continued to giggle, teasing him for dropping his guard at one point while Jungkook's heart pounded as he felt her skin brushing against his arm. He pouted as he felt her warmth disappear, watching as she picked up the pace while he followed her into her room, letting his body fall onto her bed.

"Gross," Charlie said, scrunching up her nose as she smacked his leg. "You are all sweaty! Get off my bed." She glared at him and Jungkook huffed as he let his body roll off her bed, landing with a heavy thud on the floor.

His muscles were sore and he could still feel the sweat forming on his body, still clinging to his clothes, which felt quite uncomfortable. He couldn't wait to take a shower.

Charlie wanted to work on how to get out of a man's grip, so they had practiced it over and over until she could manage to get away from him, no matter how he had her pinned. She had become a lot stronger, and holding onto her was a workout in itself.

He had noticed earlier how she would pause whenever his arms wrapped around her, enjoying the small moment of being in his hold. Even though they were sparring, she still felt comfortable and secure as he gently held onto her, so she relished in the moment and leaned against him every time, just to feel his touch for a little while longer. He would give her a small squeeze in return, letting her know that he wanted nothing more than to hold her.

"I'm going to shower, you should do the same," Charlie said, pulling him out of his thoughts as she gathered some clean clothes to put on after she was done.

"I'm just going to use yours," Jungkook mumbled, not even bothering to look over at her as he continued to lay on the floor, his eyes closed as his body relaxed, enjoying the touch of the cold hardwood floor.

"I'm pretty sure the other bathroom is free. Doesn't seem like anyone else is really home," she scoffed.

"But yours is so much cleaner," he whined as he propped himself up on his elbows, glancing up at her with wide doe eyes.

Charlie stood there with her hands on her hips, a small smile forming as she shook her head, trying hard not to give in as a small pout formed on his lips, a tactic she was all too familiar with. He knew he had to step it up in order to get her determined resolve to crumble, so Jungkook quickly jumped up and rushed towards her, grabbing her waist. Charlie wanted to wrap her arms around him as well, but her hands were filled with her clothes. She looked into the eyes of her best friend as his face came closer to hers.

"Please," he whispered.

"It will cost you." Charlie smirked while Jungkook scoffed in response, his eyes intently focused on her gaze. She could see right through his annoyed facade, noticing the faint smile before he leaned in closer, his lips pressing against hers.

Charlie savored these small moments they had together and always hated when they needed to pull away from each other... which is exactly what Jungkook did. She knew they couldn't risk being seen by one of the other members, but she still hated the distance and the slight emptiness she felt whenever he wasn't with her.

"Fine, give me 20 minutes," Charlie muttered as she peeled herself away from him and walked into her bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Jungkook grinned before walking to his room, quickly grabbing a clean set of clean clothes before returning to Charlie's room as he shut the door behind him. Jungkook let out a content sigh as he sprawled out on the bed, relaxing into the fluffy comforter while he waited for Charlie to finish up.

It wasn't long before he heard the water turn off. He quickly shuffled off the bed, sprinting over to her bathroom door as he stood right next to it, waiting for her to come out. As soon as the door opened, he jumped in front of her, startling Charlie as she instinctively swung at him. Jungkook was quick before he grabbed her wrist, pulling her against his chest.

Neither one hesitated as their lips were locked together once more, Charlie now finally able to wrap her arms around him as she pulled his body against hers. The kiss was slow, gentle, and sensuous as his touch slowly started to move down her curves, resting on her waist as he softly held her against him.

He felt her tongue against his bottom lip, a smile adorning his lips, but their small little bubble was quick to burst when Charlie's door opened, both of them quickly pulling apart and stepping away from each other, hearts erratically pounding as their heads shot over towards the door, both frozen in place.

"Hey Charlie, do you..." Hoseok started but stopped when he noticed that Charlie was not alone. The two friends were standing apart from each other, but the nervous, flustered looks and slightly reddish tint to both their lips did not go unnoticed. "Hey Jungkook," Hoseok added, a knowing smile on his lips as he stared at the younger man.

Hoseok decided to bite back his comments and the questions he had for the pair as he tried to steer the conversation back to his original intentions, since he did come to Charlie's room for a reason. "Uhh, I was wondering, do either of you want to help me grab dinner tonight?" he asked.

Jungkook and Charlie shared a quick glance before Charlie turned towards her door.

"I will," she volunteered, giving him a big smile. "Besides, Jungkook needs to wash off the shame of me beating him earlier." Charlie quickly gave her friend a small smirk as Jungkook just rolled his eyes at her, immediately protesting against her statement.

"I'm leaving now, if that's ok," Hoseok said as he shook his head while the two friends continued their little bickering. Charlie quickly turned to him before eagerly nodding her head, asking him to wait for just a bit.

Charlie swiftly grabbed the sweatshirt that always found its way to the back of her desk chair, Jungkook's sweatshirt, and hurried after Hoseok as the two walked out of the house, but not before turning back towards Jungkook, giving him a small wave goodbye before closing the door.

Charlie felt excited as she quickly got into the car, eager to spend some time with Hoseok since the two hadn't really talked much after that incident with Yoongi. The air was slightly awkward between them, especially since she had lied to him about Yoongi giving them the green light for following the lead on Hana, and she really wanted to make sure that things were good between the two of them.

Before she could even utter out a word, Hoseok was the first to speak. "So, was I interrupting something back there?" She playfully narrowed her eyes at him, picking up on the teasing tone. Even though she knew he was being playful, she really didn't want to answer that question, her fingers immediately reaching up for her earring as she started playing with the metal stud.

Hoseok noticed her silence, glancing over to see her fidgeting as he cleared his throat, trying to figure out how to ease her nerves. After living together for a while, he was familiar with all her little ticks and could easily pick up when she felt uneasy.

"You know, it helps sometimes when you have someone close to you, someone who's there by your side. You don't have to tell me what's going on between the two of you, I have my own idea about what I saw, but I just want you to know that you had my back when I had hit my low. I really appreciate you covering my ass, and I'd happily return that favor, you deserve to have something special in your life," he shared.

Charlie felt a small smile tug on her lips as she glanced up at Hoseok. "Thanks Hobi," she uttered out, mulling over his words as she recalled the day she had found those pills in his pants and confronted him about it. "Hey, are you still..." she started, letting her words falter as she hoped that Hoseok would pick up on what she was hinting at.

"No," he immediately answered. "I threw that shit away the day you confronted me about it and made sure to stay clean. It wasn't easy, but I'm not using anymore, I promise."

She nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief knowing that he was doing better and taking care of himself. "Hey Hobi, can I ask you something?" she asked, her tone a bit somber as the smile from earlier faded into a small pout.

"You just did," he replied, letting out a small chuckle as she huffed at him, clearly unamused at his bad joke. "Sure, what's up?" he offered, waiting for her to continue.

Charlie carefully took into consideration what her next words would be. There was a question lingering in her mind, and she really needed to get it off her chest, especially since it was eating her up late at night. She felt happy, content... but it had only been a week since Raven's death, and she couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with her. Sure, there was still a dull ache in her chest, a hole left in her heart over the loss... but it was slowly healing.

"Jungkook and I... I mean, I'm really happy with him... but does that make me a selfish person? I mean, we just lost Raven and-"

"Stop," he interrupted, refusing to let the guilt consume her. "Look Charlie, you will always feel guilty about shit in life, whether it's in regards to not doing anything to prevent bad things from happening or whether it's not feeling bad enough. But it's ok to feel happy, it's okay to move on. We have to try to remember that they would've wanted us to be happy. We never forget the loved ones we lost, but we do learn how to move on."

Hoseok's hand lifted up to his neck, tugging on the delicate gold chain before revealing a lotus flower imprinted on a golden circle. "This is my reminder that when I have a rough day, Hana would want me to push through."

Charlie stared at the gold necklace, focusing on the design of the lotus flower as his words settled in. It's okay to be happy. It's okay to move on. She nodded her head as a comfortable silence settled between the two of them.

The word "happiness" kept dancing in her mind, a grin taking over her lips as an idea popped into her head. "Can we get some movies? Do a movie night with the rest of the guys?" she suggested, her smile widening as he let out a light chuckle in response.

He shook his head in amusement, a bright smile on his lips as he spoke. "Good luck trying to rope Yoongi into a movie night. Now Joon, he might just cave in. Even though he won't admit it, he actually enjoys it when we all get together."

"Oh, I'll convince him, just watch me," she replied, determination laced in her voice as they pulled up to the fast food place to pick up the order Hoseok had placed earlier.

It didn't take long to get the food, and on the drive home, Hoseok had stopped by a small shop in order to pick up some movie choices for their first ever Bangtan movie night.

Charlie was giddy as she walked through the front door, displaying the movies to Jin as he happened to be walking by. He curiously stared at her before glancing at Hoseok, hoping for some answers.

"Charlie wants to do a movie night with all the members," he explained, causing Jin to nod before he grinned, taking the movies as he shuffled through the options while Jungkook popped in, eagerly taking the food from Hoseok as he took it over to the dining room, where the other members were already seated and waiting.

"Ooh, a movie night? What'd you get?" Jungkook asked, glancing over at the movies Jin was scrutinizing while Taehyung and Jimin also looked up, their interests piqued by the suggestion.

"Just a bunch of different stuff. I figured we could all vote on it to make it fair," Charlie suggested.

"You kids have fun, I have some stuff to work on," Yoongi stated but paused when he saw Charlie shaking her head, a mischievous smile on her lips as her hands rested on her hips.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this one," she insisted. Yoongi was ready to object, but his eyes met her large ones, lips pouting as she mustered up her best puppy dog face.

He grumbled as he rolled his eyes, giving in to her request while the other members let out a small cheer.

After dinner, they all found a spot in the living room before finally agreeing on a movie for the evening.

Hoseok sat comfortably on the couch, happy that Charlie had actually convinced the entire house to gather together and relax. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Hoseok knew that Yoongi truly missed just relaxing and spending time with everyone.

Hoseok's eyes traveled over to the larger couch where Jimin sat on one end with Taehyung's feet in his lap. On the other end, Taehyung had his head in Charlie's lap while she ran her fingers through his hair, like he had often requested her to do, but what really drew his attention to this direction was the person who had their arm around Charlie.

No one thought anything of it as Charlie leaned into Jungkook while his arm rested around her shoulder, his cheek pressed against the top of her head. Everyone else still only saw them as the two crazy best friends in the house, but Hoseok knew they were so much more than that. He knew that the duo were one of the best things to come out of the Bangtan mafia.

~☾~

Charlie was excited for a girls night out, she really needed this more than she thought.

Looking back at herself in the mirror, she admired the super cute and sexy outfit she had managed to pick out, without the help of the other girls. Her black leather pants clung to her curves and had a slight sheen to them. Her top had the pop of color that Jade was begging her to add to her wardrobe. The dark maroon crop top stopped right above her belly button as the one sleeve hid her tattoo.

Yoongi made sure to let her know, at least a hundred times, that if she was going out, she needed to cover her identifiers at all times, which she easily agreed to.

She continued to fuss with her eyeshadow as she heard someone come into her room, feeling the presence closeby as he stood in her bathroom doorway.

Jungkook was leaning against the wood frame, his arms crossed and eyes wandering up and down Charlie's body.

"So, you going to find a distraction tonight?" he asked with a smirk.

Charlie knew he was teasing her and couldn't help but play along.

"I don't know, maybe," she answered as she began to apply another coat of mascara. "Depends if I can find the right guy."

Jungkook let out a small chuckle and walked closer to her. He stopped right behind her, eyes focused on her exposed shoulder. He brought up a hand and brushed the stray strands of her hair away, lightly touching her skin with his fingertips.

Charlie had placed her mascara back on her countertop and intently watched through the mirror the actions of the man behind her. She watched as he moved his hand from her shoulder down her arm, and then lowered his lips to her neck.

Charlie instinctively closed her eyes and felt her head fall back onto Jungkook as he continued to kiss up her neck. Her breath became shaky and she gripped the bathroom counter, trying to steady her weak knees. Jungkook had this effect on her body that she had never felt before. She was always in control when with another man, but with Jungkook, she felt like she could give in... just a little bit.

Jungkook gently grabbed onto Charlie's waist with his other hand, holding her close to him as he continued to kiss her shoulder and neck, careful not to leave any evidence of what was happening between them. Charlie's hand grasped onto his and interlaced her fingers with his, squeezing. Suddenly wanting more, Charlie spun around and slammed her lips against his.

The tension that had been building between the two of them exploded as Charlie's fingers raked through Jungkook's hair, giving the strands a slight tug. His hands traveled to the back of her thighs, sliding against the smooth leather and easily picking her up, setting her down on the counter.

Their lips moved against each other faster and more passionately than they ever had before, and for a moment Charlie questioned what was happening, but was too happy, too lost in her best friend that she just wanted more. She pressed her ankles against the back of his knees and pulled him closer to her as he was caught in between her. Jungkook let out a small giggle and squeezed the tops of her thighs, earning a laugh from Charlie which made him smile against her lips.

They knew their time was limited and both friends started to slow their pace, but Jungkook didn't move away from Charlie and she was glad he didn't.

"So you're the wild one now?" Charlie asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It's a little hard not to be when you look like this." His eyes drifted to her outfit and then back to meet hers.

"Ahh, so it's only because I look hot huh?" Charlie teased. Jungkook smiled and shook his head. He had kissed Charlie when sweat had trickled down her upper lip, when the morning breath still lingered, and even once when she got a bloody nose. He didn't care what Charlie looked like, and she knew that.

Jungkook brought a hand to her cheek as his smile slowly faded. His thumb brushed against the light blush Charlie had applied just a little bit ago.

"I sometimes have a hard time believing this is real." His voice was low and soft. Charlie reached up and grasped the hand on her cheek. She moved her head slightly and kissed his palm.

"It's real," she replied. She then leaned forward and kissed her best friend.

"You ready yet?" A voice was heard from her bedroom and Jungkook quickly moved back while Charlie jumped down from the counter.

She quickly looked to the mirror and fixed her makeup along with her hair, right before Jimin made an appearance in the doorway. When he saw that Jungkook was there, he gave him a confused look.

"What?" Jungkook asked, trying to act nonchalant.

"Nothing," Jimin said before turning back to Charlie. "We really need to get going," he rushed out, and Charlie nodded.

"Have fun tonight. I'm going to see what Taehyung is up to," Jungkook said before he quickly left the room.

"I just need to grab my shoes," Charlie rushed out, walking past Jimin into her room. She grabbed the small heeled boots she had thrown next to her bed and started to put them.

"You doing ok?" Jimin asked and Charlie turned to him, a confused expression on her face.

"Yes?"

Jimin let his eyes wander around her room, not saying anything further.

"Jimin?" Charlie called, and he hummed a response. "How are you doing?"

"I'm managing, but it still fucking hurts. You seem pretty ok though. How?" He finally had the courage to ask why she seemed so happy these days and how she managed to stay intact through all this. Charlie let out a sigh and walked closer to him.

"I'm not completely ok, but I want to be. I know Raven would want me to, so I try every damn day to put on that smile she would want to see." Charlie placed a hand under Jimin's chin. "The smile she would want to see from you as well."

"Thanks,' he whispered. Jimin let a small smile creep across his lips as Charlie let her hand return to her side. "You know I still have a bone to pick with you," he said in a more stern tone.

"Why?" The confusion returned to Charlie's expression.

"You were ready to give yourself away Charlie." Jimin crossed his arms. He had been wanting to talk to Charlie about this for a while now, but the pain of what had happened seemed a little too fresh. However, if Charlie was trying hard to move on, he would too, but not before letting Charlie know how upset he still was.

Her silence told him he could continue. "I know you were trying to do it to get us all out of there, but you know we all just would have come after you. Don't you ever think that your life is worth giving up." Jimin paused and swallowed hard. "We both know they were going to kill Raven either way."

Without hesitation, Charlie wrapped her arms around Jimin's waist and he pulled her close to him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, but knew that he had heard her. They hadn't been able to talk about what had happened, what they both had seen, and maybe they didn't need to talk through it. Even though it felt like they hadn't been friends to each other for the past week, they were still always there for each other.

As Jimin held onto Charlie, he realized how much he missed her friendship, and he felt like from this moment on, he would be ok.

~☾~

Charlie walked back to the booth the girls had snagged at the club, hands full of drinks as she carefully set them down. She sat down next to Jade and picked up one of the glasses she brought over, taking a small sip. There were a lot of attractive men at this club and many of them had glanced over to the booth that Charlie and her gorgeous friends occupied, but her mind was only on one man tonight.

"So which one?" Jade asked and all eyes were on Charlie as they waited for an answer.

"Huh?" Charlie tried to play it off, but she could already tell it wasn't working.

"Oh come on Charlie." Jade nudged her. "I have seen at least three different guys look this way, and you haven't once tried to get up and talk to them."

"It's girls night Jade," Charlie teased before taking another sip of her drink.

"Someone else on your mind?" Cherry asked from across the booth. The music almost drowned out her voice, but Charlie heard her just fine. Charlie looked over to Cherry and noticed that Gigi was looking back and forth between the two of them, waiting for someone to speak first. "I have been waiting for you to ask for some advice from your girlfriends, but damn girl, you are taking forever."

Jade wasn't paying attention to what was happening and let the music take over as she grabbed onto Gigi and pulled her to the dance floor. Cherry took the opportunity and moved closer to Charlie.

"So....do you want to ask, or do I just need to tell you?" she inquired with a stern look.

"I don't know what you-"

"Stop. We all know, so there is no point in hiding it," Cherry interrupted.

The nervousness in Charlie's face must have been noticeable as Cherry gave her a comforting smile and placed a hand on her knee.

"Jungkook is super obvious, so blame him," Cherry offered. Both ladies let out a small giggle. "You're both kind of obvious about it. I see the way you look at each other when the other isn't watching. Plus, you haven't gone home with a guy in awhile. That was the biggest give away."

"I like him...a lot," Charlie finally admitted. "But I don't know what our future holds or what our relationship really is. I keep overthinking everything and it's driving me crazy. To make matters worse, there's this rule that Yoongi has about members dating or hooking up, so we have been hiding everything."

Cherry nodded along to what Charlie was saying. "Are you happy?" Charlie nodded. "Is he happy?"

"He better be fucking happy," Charlie replied, letting out a laugh.

"Then I say just go for it! Do what makes you happy," Cherry advised before Jade and Gigi joined them once again.

"Are you finally talking to her about Jungkook?" Gigi asked and Charlie stared at her with wide eyes. Well this just got even more awkward. "Relax Charlie," Gigi started as she took a sip of her drink. "We may have fucked a couple times, but honestly... I would kill to have a man look at me the way that Jungkook looks at you." Gigi gave her a genuine smile. "He has completely fallen for you."

Charlie felt a new strength grow within her as her girls' night gave her the courage she had needed to push her towards getting closer to Jungkook. She was glad that even Gigi has encouraged her to just go for it, to be with her best friend. The four friends threw back their drinks and all joined the crowd on the dance floor, enjoying their time together.

A/N: School is finishing up but the holidays are now upon us. Please bare with us as this is a busy time of year but we are happy to finally get an update out!!

Thoughts?? ------->