Travel with Me - V (aka Kim Taehyung) BTS COMPLETE

Chapter 18 - Casanova

Chapter 18

Marley POV

My eyes felt heavy and sore when I opened them the next morning. I had slept fitfully, falling into bed after picking myself up from the floor of the entrance way, tears like rivers on my cheeks. His texts had helped bring a brief smile but the bed felt empty without waking next to him. Those two days of having him in my house had ruined it for me. Now that I knew the feeling of him being close, it was all I wanted.

I needed to get moving, to pick Sophia up from mums house and drop her to preschool. Then work could be my distraction for most of the day. As 9am came and went, there was no knock at the door with an envelope to make me smile and he was in another country, far across the ocean from me. So, it was back to the old normal routine without him but now my new normal had memories that I didn't want to let go of.

When I picked Sophia up, Mum took one look at my face and said," why don't you come back here after you've dropped her to preschool? Looks like you could do with a cuppa." So, half an hour later I sat on the floor at mums house, Toko laying over my legs. He could tell I wasn't happy and was content to be close. I was relishing the contact, rubbing his ears as he looked up at my with huge eyes. Mum walked in, holding a cup of tea for me and stopped abruptly noticing my expression, placing the cup down on the side table.

"What's wrong Marley? Are you thinking about Matthew?"

"That would make the most sense wouldn't it. And I'm a bit ashamed to say that's not who I was thinking about." I sat up and walked over to the sofa, Toko following to settle on my lap as I reached for the cup. "I met someone Mum, is it too soon?"

"Love doesn't stick to rules Marley," she answered, sitting down across from me after patting my leg.

"I don't know if I love him, just that I miss him terribly. He lives overseas and works all over the world so we met while he was in town. I don't know when I'll see him again."

"I watched you break when Matthew died and I've watched how bravely you put yourself back together this last year for Sophia's sake. But you're not completely happy and I know you're lonely. Even if it's not love yet, you owe it to yourself to find out where it's going and if there is the possibility of more. If there's anything I can do to help with that, I will. You know I love you."

"Thanks mum. I've been battling in my head about whether it's real. I don't really have anything to compare it to. Loving Matty had been so easy, The lines between friendship and more had blurred in our teens so I wasn't even sure when we both knew we'd fallen for each other. It just crept up on us. With Tae, well, the attraction was there from the very beginning. But it's so complicated." I took a few sips of the hot drink, feeling the warmth as I thought about the last few days.

"Tae, that's his name? I hope this Tae knows how precious you are."

I laughed at how earnest her face looked. "He went out of his way to plan some very special moments for us to enjoy. That made me feel very treasured."

"OK, he's off to a good start. But be warned, he needs to treat you right."

"I don't think that will be a problem, he has been incredibly respectful so far."

She looked like she wanted to ask another question but didn't press it and I was grateful. That was all I felt like I could share for now.

"Thanks for listening mum, you always know how to put my mind at ease."

"All I'll ever want is for you to be happy."

"I know. I think he could definitely help make me feel happy again, I know he already has."