Kitty Gang

9

"Honey, I'm home!" Taehyung calls out jokingly as he and Jimin enter the house.

Maria's breath hitches when she sees Jimin, his fingers raking back his freshly-dyed honey, blonde hair. He looked breathtaking, and Maria couldn't look away as he approached her with a little smirk.

"Hey."

"Hey," she murmurs back, sharing a shy giggle with him.

"Let's go do something fun," Taehyung groans. "Doing Jiminie's hair took forever."

Jimin rolls his eyes with a fond smile and offers his hand to Maria, and he chuckles when she tilts her head at him.

"Well, kitten? You coming?"

***

The drive was long, and the sunset was painting the sky in a mixture of red and orange. Jimin had sat in the back of the car with Maria, and she tried to keep her gaze out the window instead of at him. Her right and his left hand were resting on the empty seat between them and Jimin would occasionally brush his pinky against hers, causing her cheeks turn a cherry red.

Taehyung turned into an old car shop and hopped out, Jimin and Iris quickly getting out after him. Maria almost jumped when she heard someone open the trunk and then slam it shut.

"We haven't done this in ages," Iris laughs, dropping the bag when they're near the other cars.

"Hand me one, babe," Taehyung says, and he smirks when she bends down and tosses him a bat.

Taehyung swings it in his hand as he heads towards a car, and Maria audibly gasps when he smashes it against one of the side mirrors, causing it to break off.

Iris and Jimin grab their own bats from the bag before running towards the other cars, their laughter echoing in the night air.

"Come on, Maria!" Iris shouts towards her.

Maria crouches down and slowly takes a bat into her hand, looking up through her eyelashes as she watches the trio let themselves go with their own emotions on the cars.

Her fist tightened around the handle.

She approaches an old car and gently drags the bat against the front of it, a smirk crawling onto her lips.

The first hit was hard. It left a dent in the shiny metal that mirrored her face growing into anger.

Every word from her father. Every hit from him. Every event where she's had to wear a mask to appear innocent.

It all fueled her insanity.

The next hits were aimed at the window, and the other three were rendered speechless as they watched with wide eyes as she hit the glass repeatedly and shouted in anger until it completely shattered. She was left panting, hair falling around her face as she lowered the bat slowly.

Taehyung's low whistle broke the silence, and Maria whipped around to see them looking at her with amazed expressions.

Jimin jumped off from the roof of the car he was on and walked towards her, an amused smirk on his lips. He didn't stop until he was right in front of her, and she craned her neck back to view him.

"How do you feel?" he asks, watching her eyes swirl with the familiar craziness that filled in his own.

"Free," she answers, smiling genuinely as
she tightens her fingers around the handle of the bat.

***

Maria was very reluctant to let go of the bat. She feared that if she did, she would lose the feeling of being free. She would lose the crazy feeling in her heart and go back to being... boring.

"You have to," Jimin tries for what seems like the millionth time. Taehyung and Iris were already in the car, waiting for the two to put the bats away in the trunk.

"But I don't wanna," Maria pouts, looking away as she gently sways with the bat in hand.

"Look at me," Jimin growls, gripping her chin in his hand and forcing her face up. "Put the bat in the trunk, kitten. You wanna go on a ride, don't ya?"

Maria blushes red, but Jimin knows better. He sees the way her eyes practically sparkle from his words.

Jimin lowers his face until it's an inch away from her own, and he looks at her lips before meeting her eyes. "Then put the fucking bat away and come sit down with me."

Maria feels herself melt. This type of talking... it was much different from her father's. Because Jimin was saying it with an undertone of care, and he was looking at her with these dark eyes like he wanted to take her from behind on the damn car.

So of course, Maria followed his orders as soon as he let her face go from his hand.

"Mhm, that's a good girl," Jimin praises, watching her put the bats away with his arms folded over his chest. He then nudges his head towards the car. "Get inside, kitten."

Maria giggles as she sits back down in her seat, and Taehyung raises an eyebrow back at Jimin as he slides in next to her. The honey-haired boy only smirks and rests his hand on Maria's thigh. "C'mon, Tae. Kitten wants to go for a ride."

Taehyung smirks, shifting the gear and slamming his foot on the gas. The windows were rolled down as they zipped out of the car lot and onto the streets, and Maria feels herself growing giddy.

"FUCK YOU!" Iris shouts out the window at the people crowding around a movie theatre, her middle finger stuck out of the window.

Maria scrambles onto her knees and Jimin's hand falls off as she leans her hips against the inside of the car and sticks her own head out the window.

"FUCK YOU!" she shouts, laughing at the offended faces flying by.

Jimin sits back, manspreading and watching her with an amused expression.

Iris and Maria continued to shout out their windows as Taehyung drove around into the night, and Maria wished the night would never end, the excitement in her chest feeling not common but so damn euphoric.

Until they pulled into her driveway.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Iris promises.

Maria offers a tight-lipped smile, the adrenaline wearing off at the sight of her front door. They didn't understand her reluctance to leave. They didn't understand that there was a monster who lived inside that house with her.

"Thank you for tonight," she says, dropping her eyes to the floor so she didn't have to see their faces. "Goodnight."

And with that, she stepped out onto her driveway.

And with every step towards the door, her heart began to sink with fear.