Chasing Butterflies

A Twist

Izzy's high heels clicked eerily across the marble floors of the hotel lobby. Crowds of the obviously and obnoxiously rich roamed through the lobby and filled the space with hushed chatter that did nothing to mask the clicking of Izzy's heels. She drew in a breath with each shaky step forward. The urge to scratch and rip at her own skin was coming back with a vengeance and Izzy's fingers curled into tight fists, her fingernails digging painfully into her palms. She couldn't give in to the withdrawal. She had to be strong for Jimin. She hadn't admitted it to anyone, but Jimin was the only thing keeping her from relapsing. Seeing the pain in his eyes was something she never wanted to live through again. So Izzy was trying to be strong. For Jimin.

"Gentlemen!" The hotel manager nearly tripped over his own feet in his hurry to greet the boys. "So glad to see you here tonight," the look of relief in his eyes at seeing the boys was one that couldn't be faked.

"Of course, thank you for letting us know about the game," Namjoon shook the mans hand.

So this is who he'd been on the phone with? Izzy's eyes darted back and forth between the manager and Namjoon as she hid timidly behind Jungkook's broad shoulders. She never had been good with meeting new people, but that anxiety was amplified now that she feared people could see the dark circles of exhaustion and withdrawal beneath her eyes. Izzy didn't want the world to know her struggles. She hadn't even wanted the boys to know; but that's not say that she wasn't glad that they did. These boys had saved her on more than one occasion, and Izzy could try all she wanted but there was no hiding anything from them.

"Izzy!" She was startled out of her thoughts by Jungkook's voice calling her.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, breathe Izz," he rubbed his warm hands across her shoulders. "Come on, we're going into the ballroom now."

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her along after the boys who, sure enough, were being escorted into a grand ballroom by the hotel manager.

"Have a good night, gentlemen," the manager shook Namjoon's hand again before practically sprinting away to greet a callous looking man in a smoke-gray suit. Izzy was busy examining the tiny scuff on the toe of her shiny black shoe when the boys pulled her attention again.

"Izzy, are you okay?" Jin lifted her chin with a gentle hand and stared intently into her tired eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine," she lied.

"Because we can go home right now if you want to."

Izzy's pulse quickened, "No! No, I don't want to go home yet," and that was the truth. A serious case of cabin-fever had set in over the course of the past few days. "I promise I'm alright," and she was back to lying.

"Alright," Jin seemed to buy it. "We're going to go place our bets," he told her. "Stay right here and do not move an inch, do you understand?"

"Yes," she nodded hastily. It's not like there was anywhere else she could go right now anyway.

"Okay, we'll be right back," Jin took a moment to adjust a stray hair on Izzy's head before leading the others to a tuxedoed man who was obviously taking out bets from anyone who wanted a chance to win big tonight or anyone who just had too much money and nothing to do with it. Jimin was at the tail of their group, lagging a bit behind the others and Izzy took that opportunity to grab his wrist and pull him back to her.