─ beg ; jjk

─ 𝐢𝐱. 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐁𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒

"We are." I sighed, throwing myself across my bed and resting against the pillows with the file in hand, "Things aren't going back to the way they were," I shook my head.

It would never be the same again.

I don't think I could ever forget the person Jungkook became when I was a person he hated.

Jungkook swallowed hard, "And how do we stand now?" he asked, fearing for my answer. His doe eyes looked deeply into mine pleadingly.

I blinked sadly and thinned my lips.

Don't go running back into his arms, Charli.

He'll do nothing but continue to hurt you.

"You're just my best friend's older brother." I shrugged, wanting nothing more than for him to leave so I could cry and scream in peace. His face fell, and he stumbled back a step – as if my words punctured him.

"...you don't mean that." He breathed, shaking his head stubbornly, "Years ago..."

"Years ago, I was dumb, stupid – and I didn't have a clue to who you really were...and what you were capable of." Cruel enough to spit in my face about my feelings for him. That broke me. "You aren't the person I grew up looking up to." As those words left my lips, I just sounded sad and defeated.

I felt guilty as his head lowered inch after inch as I delivered sentence after sentence. But I had to do this. I had to protect myself.

I don't want to get hurt again.

I didn't want to go through that again.

"...I..." he broke off, looking like the world just fell and crashed at his feet. I swallowed and looked away from his downtrodden form. "I'm sorry. So...So...sorry, Little One."

"—Charli." I interrupted, knowing that if he continued to call me that, I'd give in to him. "My name is Charli."

"Charli." He whispered, heartbroken. Jungkook nodded and took a stumbling step to the door. I watched; tears apparent in my eyes as I caught the trembling of his hands as he reached for the doorknob.

"Goodbye, Jungkook." I croaked, teeth clenching in effort to keep my tears at bay. Jungkook's back stiffened and slowly his head looked over to my form and gave a slow nod and left my bedroom.

I listened for the sound of his boots hitting the floor, and once I made sure he was gone; I rolled onto my stomach and let all the tears, that were begging to be free, go.

SIX MONTHS LATER...

Life had gotten somehow easier.

But harder, all the same.

I felt I was entirely to blame for Jungkook's sudden departure on his second world tour. He left three days after we spoke in my bedroom. And I felt grateful he didn't say anything about the file he had found in my bedroom.

Three months ago, we had finally shut down the drug rings going around Charleston with the help of the Blackbourne Team and the Anderson Team.

Shockingly enough, Taehyung and Soo-Min were actually an item, they made it official one month ago, on the day Jungkook came back for a small break to see his family.

And if I wasn't shocked enough, Eleanor Anderson was now married to Greg Woo, and they were expecting their first child. Who knew so much could change in such a small amount of time?

I, on the other hand, was doing as well as I could.

I did online collage classes for a degree in computer science, and I was proud to say my social anxiety has gotten so much better.