↳ ❝🍓 [chapter 22] ¡! ❞🚬

"I'M ALMOST THERE ANGEL, JUST around the corner." Yoongi's been trying to keep her calm for the past 3 minutes while he drove to her house, flying down empty streets with no regard for public safety. If anyone got in his way they better quickly get out of his way or they're getting mowed over. He has no regard for anyone's safety, not even his own. "Can you hear anyone downstairs?"

"N-no, not anymore, but I'm too scared to leave my room."

Yoongi rounded the corner and parked in front of her house. The giant window to her living room was completely shattered and the front door was left ajar. "I'm here. Stay in your room, I'll come to you." He was out of his car in a matter of seconds, hanging up his phone to shove it into his pocket. He reached to his waist, grabbing his gun and cocking it.

Walking through the front door, it was hard not to notice the destruction of her immaculately decorated living room. A hurricane had come through and destroyed all the heart she had put into making her house a home. Picture frames shattered on the floor, potted plants surrounded by broken clay pots and dirt, and a leg of her coffee table was completely snapped in half. Glass crunched beneath his shoes and kicked to the side was a large, red brick.

Yoongi stepped past the destruction. He remained completely silent, roaming the house to make sure no one was hiding out. There was no logic in it. If they wanted Eva, they would have gone upstairs and broken the door down. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Yoongi took his time, thoroughly searching through her house. Once he was sure everything was okay, Yoongi began his ascension up the stairs. "Eva! It's me!" He rushed upstairs to get her.

Eva heard his voice from the corner she had tucked herself into, clinging on to Oreo to comfort herself as well as keep him safe. With tear-stained cheeks and erratic breathing, Eva's crushing grip loosened and Oreo slipped from her hold. He ran to the door as Yoongi opened it. She scrambled to him, leaping into his arms and pressing her face into his neck. "I'm sorry. I was just so scared. I didn't know who else to call."

"It's okay, it's okay." He coos softly, petting her head. Yoongi would rather her call him over anyone else if she felt she was in danger. The police weren't going to do shit and might actually do more harm than good. Eva saw Yoongi as her protector. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He pulls back and examines her.

Eva shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She hiccups, wiping her cheeks raw with the bottom of her palms. "I'm sorry for calling so late. I just didn't know what to do." Her rest had been disturbed by the shattering of her window downstairs, soon followed by crashing and the weighted footsteps of men who could easily overpower her. So she moved slowly, locked the door to her room like the flimsy wood would stop anyone from getting in if they truly wanted to. Eva grabbed Oreo and her phone and found the darkest, most hidden corner in her room, and immediately called Yoongi because who else was she supposed to call. Even growing up in the suburbs, Eva knew the police were completely unreliable.

"I know, I'm not upset, angel. I'm just happy you're okay." He comforts her in the way that comes naturally to him, stroking her back and assuring her that he wasn't upset. If anything at all, Yoongi now had it out for Trey. To say that Yoongi snapping at him and then later Eva being attacked was a coincidence was fucking bullshit.

"Come on, go back to bed." Yoongi gently led Eva back to her bed. He made her lay down, forced her relaxation as he pulled her comforter over her body and gently stroked her cheek. "I'll be downstairs." Yoongi wouldn't impose himself upon her in her time of distress so he'd be downstairs, dust the glass of the couch, and sleep there with his gun inches from his fingertips.

Eva takes his wrist in her hold. "Uh- can you stay with me please." Her voice was a breeze in the wind, tickling his ears in the most satisfying way possible. Yoongi doesn't dare to refuse her because just as much as she wanted him with her, he wanted to be with her.

He put his gun down on her bedside table to keep it close by. "Scoot over." Eva shuffled a little to the side to give Yoongi some space to lay down with her. He denied himself the warmth of curling up with her. He doesn't deserve it, the comfort of having her as his own. Yoongi lay with his back to her, staring at the door with the sole intention that he'd stop whoever tries to come through it.

An arm slips around his waist and suddenly Eva's right behind him with her face pressed against his spine between his shoulder blades. She holds him in the way she wants him to hold her, tightly, securely, like he'd be gone the moment she closed her eyes.

"I missed you."

Yoongi placed his hand over hers. His finger traces the golden band around her finger. "I missed you too, angel." Their voices linger in the air around them before fading into the darkness. It's easier to talk this way, not actually having to look each other in the eyes and admit their feelings to each other. Yoongi wasn't used to wearing his heart on his sleeve for just anyone to gaze at.

Eva forced him to expose himself, to bare his heart to her and show his hand. "Why did you leave me?" For days on end, he was radio silent. Yoongi had just up and left without so much as a word. Did he truly care so little for her as to offer her no explanation? He had gone out of his way to reciprocate the kiss so it wasn't like she crossed a line he didn't want her to.

Yoongi had no real reason beyond, "I was scared." Scared of her, scared of himself, and the emotions which had been drawn out by Eva. He was scared that he wasn't good enough for her, scared he couldn't live up to this idea of himself, to the way she viewed him. "I knew I wasn't nearly in a good enough place for you. If I was even half as amazing as you think I am, I'd be a much better person than I am now, angel."

"If you were half as amazing as I thought you were you'd be worse than you are." She corrects him. "Because if I thought so well of you to begin with, wouldn't that mean you were already that great?" Yoongi was far from inadequate. She saw him for exactly what he was, a man trying his best, and that was perfectly okay. That's all she needs from him, to make an attempt. "How could I see something that wasn't already there?"

Yoongi admired how she viewed everything through a rose-tinted glass. Everything and everyone was the very best version of itself around her. As naive as it was, Yoongi would do anything to preserve that. It's what made her who she is, the woman he adored above all else. So he'd let her view him as she wanted, romanticize the idea of him all she wanted because knowing that she thought so highly of him, hearing her speak like he was just as great as her, made Yoongi momentarily forget home much he hated himself. Eva made him feel like maybe all wasn't so hopeless.

"Turn around."

Yoongi shuffled around in her arms to face her. He didn't look her in the eyes until she made him, placing her hand on his cheek. Warm. All warm. Everything is warm between them. They hold each other like they're lovers, like they're more familiar with each other than they have ever been with anyone else.

Eva has always been the braver of the two of them. What does she have to fear? Yoongi? Never.

"I like you, Yoongi." Her voice kisses his face. "And I think you're the most amazing man I've ever known." There it is. That relief from the burden of his self-hatred and he lets himself believe that he could be even remotely good for her.

They say you can't love someone without first learning to love yourself. But Yoongi calls bullshit. Self-love comes from knowing that Eva Jones thinks the absolute world of you. How could one not love themselves after knowing that?

"Don't say that to me." Yoongi shakes his head against the pillow. "Don't say that to me, angel. If you knew how much danger you were in, you wouldn't be saying that." He gets teary-eyed just thinking about her getting hurt because someone connected the dots and figured out how much she meant to him. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Eva smiles with tender care and wipes a tear before it even has the chance to fall. "But you'll protect me, right? Like you always do?" If there was one thing she could count on, it was Yoongi making her feel safe. Even in an event of immediate danger, let Yoongi walk into the room and she'd know everything was okay because he would protect her.

"With everything I have."

"Then I'll be okay." She assures him. "You'll be there to keep me safe."

Her optimism is beautiful.

Yoongi takes his turn at being forward. He cradles her cheek and leans in to kiss her. Eva giggles at how gentle and timid he's being and draws him closer, kissing him harder. She encourages him to do what he wants but it seems as though this is what he wants, to take things slow and feel their way through it. They go slow because they were too quick last time. They want to remember this, savor this moment.

Their pace doesn't not equal a lack of passion. Eva can feel how much Yoongi cares for her even if he chooses not to put it into words. That's just how he is, how he shows he cares. Words don't mean much to him, so he does it in actions. This is Yoongi wearing his heart on his sleeve. Or rather her heart on his sleeve. It no longer belonged to him.

Eva grabbed a handful of his shirt, twisting the cotton fabric in her fists. "Don't leave me alone again, please." She murmured against his lips. "I don't feel safe without you." She wants to snuggle into his hold and know that nothing will happen. It'll be just the two of them, sitting on her porch with a pitcher of iced tea between the two of them. A quiet, simple life.

Yoongi couldn't have left her even if he wanted to.

"I won't, angel. I'm right here." He kisses her head with his thumb against her face, gently stroking her cheek. "Go to sleep. I'll be here in the morning."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

This chapter got a MAJOR rewrite. Idk y but I just didn't like how it was originally so I decided that they'd have their "confession" in bed.

Their relationship is sorta kinda official now! Or they've acknowledged their emotions at the very least and now we can keep it moving. If I counted correctly we should have 14 chapters left not including the epilogue but there may be more depending on if I add in more chapters that weren't there before.

I'm just so excited to get to the ending.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.

사랑해

~Kay (ʘᴗʘ✿)