𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃

69 | my gravity

"You're back already?"

"It's only ten." I say as I rummage through the cabinets when I grasp a bottle of white wine. My eyes take in my brother's unruly blonde hair and flushed cheeks which only confirm my suspicions of him probably not being alone in his bedroom. However, I'll play along because he's a big kid and I don't want to be the one restraining him. "You should go sleep because you've got school tomorrow." I tell him as I pour myself a glass.

"Yeah, I should probably go do that." He says with a relaxed grin.

I'm happy he's found some peace.

"Say hello to Neveah for me." I chime just as his bedroom door is about to close. I can hear him cuss under his breath and I laugh to myself.

I take the bottle of wine and my glass and walk out the front door. The cool air hits my skin as I make my way to the water fountain. I'm feeling lazy to bring out the beach chairs from the laundry room, so I settle on sitting over the edges with the wine bottle keeping me company. I take a long sip from my glass savoring the sweet flavor of stone fruits and citrus. I close my eyes briefly only to see Jimin standing a few meters away once I open them.

"You haven't said a word all evening," he starts saying as he makes his way toward me. "Was it something I said or did that made you angry at me?" When I don't answer, he walks faster until he's standing right in front of me and kneels on the ground with his arms wrapped around me.

Of course, he thinks he did something wrong.

"You didn't do anything wrong darling." I say gently, running my fingers over his cheekbone.

"Then why were you so distant during dinner?" He asks. "After the first hour you barely spoke to me and Yoongi."

"I-I must have eaten something that disturbed me. I think it was the pasta-I knew the sauce tasted kinda off."

"You're lying baby." Jimin says lowly. "And I don't like it when people lie to me."

How can he see right through me so easily?

He rubs my thighs affectionately when he stands up a little and cups my cheeks, slowly tilting my head so that I'm facing him directly. "If you lie to me again, I'll be furious."

"Jimin," I breathe.

"Tell me what's wrong."

I shake my head and pull away from him. I snatch the wine glass besides me and down the entire thing when he scoots closer to me, not giving me the chance escape him.

"We're not leaving the water fountain until you tell me." He warns. "We've got all night."

"Why are you so stubborn?" I roll my eyes slightly annoyed.

"Because I know when someone's hiding things from me all too well." He says swiftly. "It happened to me before and it ended badly for both of us. I don't want to repeat that pattern again."

In that moment, his eyes slice right through mine and all I can see all the pain Evelyn had caused him by keeping countless things from him. I can see the fear in his eyes when he looks into mine, because he wants to do everything in his power to prevent that from happening with us. And whether I want to talk to him right now or not, he's right.

"Look, I don't want to pressure you into telling me stuff alright?" Jimin says. "It's just that was watching you all night; don't think that just because I was talking to Yoongi, I wasn't paying any attention to you. I could see that something was troubling you, but I figured you didn't want me to make a big deal out of it in front of Yoongi. That's why I'm asking you now when it's just the two of us and nobody is around. If you still don't want to tell me about it, can you at least tell me that something is indeed troubling you?" When he finishes the sentence, I give him a nod and he gives me a small smile. "That's all." He then gets up and plants a kiss on my forehead before turning away, but all I can think about is his lips on my skin, his comforting embrace, his calming presence and how I don't want any of this to go away.