"Your fingers entwined with mine and suddenly, life made sense."

***

My heart felt as though it was going to explode as I ran up the stairs, nearly bumping into a couple of nurses on the way up. "I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, not paying any attention to their reaction. The sterile smell of antiseptics hit me in the face as the double-doors opened soundlessly to let me in.

I broke out into a light sprint the second I noticed Jin and Yoongi at the end of the hospital hallway, having a quiet conversation in front of Taehyung's hospital room.

"Is he-" I breathed out as soon as I approached them, the air stuck in my throat from the agitation. Yoongi offered me a silent nod of confirmation.

"He asked about you," he said, causing my heart to skip a beat.

"You should go in. The doctors said he's still weak but he's in good spirits," Jin informed me. "I just dropped by to bring some clean clothes for Taehyung and now I'm off to work again." He sighed, his arms falling to his sides.

Hesitantly, I reached for the door, resting my hand on the chrome doorknob. I stepped in, careful not to stumble on my own feet. Suddenly I wasn't able to pull up my eyes from the polished floor.

I took a deep breath in to calm down my rampant emotions. Picking up my gaze, I couldn't suppress a gasp.

Taehyung was standing by the bed, pulling a gray baggy t-shirt over his head, his ruffled hazel hair pointing in every direction. I caught a glimpse of his collarbones as the oval shaped neckline found its place on his chest.

"Taehyung," I rasped, feeling dizzy from the joy and excitement of seeing him standing up again.

He glanced up to look at me, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Do I know you?" the tone of his voice was casually indifferent and I froze.

My face fell, my hand instinctively shot to my mouth. I felt as though my soul had left my body.

Taehyung's lips curled up in a little smirk, his face suddenly softened. "I'm kidding," he grinned.

"Goddamit, Taehyung!" I exclaimed loudly, my whole body going weak as a sharp exhale left my mouth. I shuffled toward him but before I could say or do anything he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me in, chest in chest with him.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," I grumbled, knitting my eyebrows. The boy had just woken up, but I wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. Even so, his embrace felt so comfortable after all this time that I let my hands run up to the back of his neck and tug on a fistful of his soft hair.

"Didn't I tell you I'd be gentle with your heart?" a soft groan escaped his mouth, his breath sending ticklish sensations to the bare skin of my neck. I suddenly found myself staring at his soft pink lips slightly parting as he exhaled.

I wanted to kiss him so bad.

A chaotic explosion of thoughts caused my brain to short-circuit.

He was up, he had really woken up. He was okay. He was holding me in his arms.

"Is something the matter?" Taehyung asked, obviously having noticed my stunned gaze. I suppressed the emerging urge to squeal.

"I'm just really happy," I admitted, taking his face in between my hands and poking the skin with my fingertip as if I wanted to make sure he was real.

I wanted to shout, to run around and jump in the air like a little child. To leap into the sunshine. My mind was like a restless butterfly, I was so deliriously happy that I could hardly stay still.

"Woah, calm down," Taehyung started laughing as I began landing little kisses on his chiseled jaw. I couldn't help myself, all I wanted was to kiss every inch of his body. My fingers traveled from his face to his neck before gliding over his chest as I continued assaulting him with sweet kisses.

He cupped my cheeks gently, forcing me to look him in the eyes. His flawless skin illuminated by the golden sunrays spilling through the window, he beamed with a soft glow.

"Y/N, you need to calm down. If you continue..." his jaw clenched, his grip on my waist growing tighter.

"If I continue what?" I cocked a brow, innocently as ever.

He placed both hands on my hips, effortlessly lifting me up as if he wasn't even injured.

"Let's just say I've been... keeping all my love for you," he growled softly. "And you being a tease right now is making things very hard for me."

His hand gently ran through my hair before he laid me on the bed very carefully as if he didn't want to break me. Both hands on my sides, he hovered over me, a spark of tenderness ignited in his deep chocolate orbs. His gaze fell on my mouth, then on my neck and lingered there, as if he was savoring the moment.

As he leaned in, Taehyung's soft lips traced the skin on my neck, leaving flickers of warm sensations along their way. I shut my eyes closed, the rest of the world becoming an unimportant blur as all of my worries melted away under his mesmerizing touch.

Just me and him. Nothing else mattered except right here and right now.

A thousand butterflies came to life in my tummy when he pushed his body into mine again. Even with my eyes closed, my hands intuitively found their way under his t-shirt, as if I knew his body by heart. I touched his upper abdomen with my fingertips and he suddenly sucked on his teeth.

I abruptly opened my eyes to see him wincing and holding his stomach. "Are you okay?" I asked, the worry evident in my voice.

"Y/N, I want you like crazy, believe me," Taehyung's face relaxed and his lips stretched in a warm smile. "But I'm still in pain. Also, we're in a hospital and anyone can walk in." He laughed.

I glanced down at his hand on his stomach and my heart fell. Completely immersed at the moment, I had dived into it and had forgotten about his injury completely.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled nervously. Taehyung turned around and rested his back on the bed beside me, intertwining our fingers. We laid there, facing each other. "Does it hurt so badly?"

"No, but the doctor made it clear I shouldn't put too much pressure on it," he clarified, sighing heavily. "And I'm pretty sure what you're making me think of doing to you involves a lot of that." The corners of his big eyes creased with the wide grin plastered on his lips.

"Don't push yourself then," I smiled. "I want to heal you, not worsen your injury."

"I have an idea of how you can heal me when we go home," he glided his finger over the thin skin of my upper-arm, causing shivers to run down my spine. A glimmer of mischief started dancing in his orbs.

"Taehyung!" I exclaimed, a giggle bubbling up my throat from the ticklish sensation. "You just woke up and it seems like that's the only thing on your mind."

"Naturally to have my girlfriend in my arms should be the only thing on my mind," he smiled softly, stroking my cheek.

"Oh?" I cocked a brow, leaning into his palm. "Am I your girlfriend now?"

Taehyung's warm eyes pulled at the most tender strings of my heart. "I suppose you are, after saying that you loved me," his expression was suddenly serious.

"Hmmm... I don't really recall saying that," I pouted playfully, looking at the ceiling as if I was thinking really hard.

Taehyung's arm swiftly ran up under my body, the other one wrapping around my waist as he abruptly pulled me closer.

"I do," he whispered, the velvety huskiness of his voice that I loved so much made my stomach turn upside down. "But it's kind of blurry. I don't mind hearing it again," he bit his lower lip, well aware of the effect that had on me.

I gazed into his eyes silently for a couple of seconds.

"I love you, Taehyung," I whispered finally.

Eyebrows dipped slightly, his expression instantly softened as a glossy layer started glistening in his eyes. He brushed my cheek with his fingertips and this was when I heard a sound that made me stop breathing.

It was a stifled sob that he tried to suppress but it ended up getting stuck in his throat.

"Oh, Tae," wide-eyed and taken aback, I still managed to cup his cheeks and make him look at me. "Why? Don't..." was all I could say as the sight of him crying real tears hit me harder than I imagined something ever could.

In a gentle motion, I wiped away the salty tears from his cheeks. Probably embarrassed, he came closer and buried his face in my chest in an attempt to hide his tears, as his body continued shaking in my arms.

"Hey, it's okay," I tried to comfort him and felt him calm down at my touch as all of his resistance washed away. I realized that this didn't bother me at all, if anything I felt honored that he trusted me enough to show me his real emotions.

"It's just-," he stuttered, rubbing his eyes. "It just feels so nice to hear it come from your mouth. I want to hear it all the time," he scrunched his reddened nose as he sniffled. My heart skipped a beat as I realized how adorable I found that to be.

"Then I'm going to say it all the time," I said softly, wrapping my arms around him but not too tightly as to not cause him any more pain. "I love you, I love you, I love you." I furrowed my eyebrows slightly. "But I'm afraid it's going to lose its effect if I repeat it too many times."

"It's impossible. Just like it's impossible for you to lose your effect over me," he muttered in his deep, husky voice before colliding his lips with mine in a slow, sensual motion and I felt the whole world around us vanish.

My vision remained blurry even after disconnecting our lips. I was so dizzy with excitement, with love. I wanted to stay in Taehyung's arms forever if it were humanly possible. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes, no one saying anything but instead gazing into each other's eyes.

I wasn't ashamed to admit it, at that moment I realized he had me bewitched. Completely under his spell. It was like something inside of me had shifted and I was seeing clearly for the first time.

"But I'd still appreciate it if you'd asked first before making me your girlfriend," I teased, lightening the mood as I trailed the skin of his neck with little pecks.

"It was never a request," he growled, his hand swiftly tugging on a fistful of my hair as he pulled it in a firm but gentle manner, making me look up at him. "I've already put my claim on you," he gave a sly smirk.

He grabbed my chin in long his fingers, tilting my head so that he could give me the deepest, most passionate kiss. To feel his lips against mine felt so right and natural, I realized how desperate for him I was. It was very difficult for me to control my desires as I had to remind myself he was still injured, when all I wanted to do was feel him on every inch of my skin.

As much as I hated it, I pulled away to disconnect our lips. Taehyung groaned, cradling my jaw in his palms gently. His orbs stared deeply into my own, nearly taking my breath away. We were both breathless, our sight blinded by a curtain of passion.

He pressed my forehead against mine. "Are you alright?" he breathed out and I needed some time to figure out what exactly was he referring to. We were both so immersed in our little bubble of happiness that all the terrible events of last night had been pushed far into the background.

"Yes," I nodded. "Are you?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line, offering me a faint nod as well. His gaze drifted somewhere over my shoulder and at that moment I knew something was troubling him. It wasn't very difficult for me to figure out what it was.

"Taehyung," I spoke out, regaining his attention. "What you said in the van, about you not being able to protect me. It's not true at all, you know that, right?" I tilted my head, searching for his gaze. I wanted to reassure him that there was nothing he could, nothing any of us could do to prevent what had happened.

It had already happened, it was over. Jiyoung and Yunseok were captured. I and Taehyung were safe, and Jungkook as well.

But I still had the feeling Taehyung was blaming himself over something he could have no control over. It tore me apart.

Jaw clenched, his expression hardened as if only to confirm my suspicions. "If only I had noticed them in the parking lot. I had to be more vigilant," he said through gritted teeth, his shoulders tensing up.

"Even so, we still couldn't do anything, Taehyung," I continued trying to convince him. Having heard what he had told me in the van about never being enough... it caused me pain to hear those words leave his mouth.

Taehyung was enough and he'll always be, especially for me. I hated the fact that he doubted himself even now, when it was obvious he had nothing to do with the way things had gone down.

"Let's not talk about that now," I shrugged, brushing the subject off while trying to sound nonchalant. "When can I take you home?"

Taehyung cocked a brow, obviously amused. "Oh, you're taking me home?"

"Yes," I replied. "You took me home when I was in the hospital, remember? Now you have to let me do the same for you," I saw his lips curl into a small smirk as he was reminded of what had happened the time he took me home after my sleepwalking incident.

Our first night together, the first time he took me in his arms and made love to me.

"Okay, I won't mind you taking care of me," he caressed my lips with his thumb gently and bit his lip yet again, making me wonder what kind of images danced through his mind in that moment.

But I knew. They were the same ones that danced on mine.

"Oh, believe me, I will," I reassured him. "I'll take really good care of you."