You'll Never Walk Alone Again

12. A Temporary Home

~Taehyung~

Bright light filtered into the train car from the random holes in the metal walls. Taehyung looked about blearily, taking a minute to remember where he was. Jungkook was curled next to him, Jimin clinging to the bunny. Taehyung smiled, seeing that his two people were safe by his side. The fox hopped to his feet, careful not to wake the other two, and opened the door to peer out at their surroundings. He guessed it was around 10:00 am. He could see fields and vineyards flashing past as they continued to chug along. A sleepy groan from inside the car distracted him then.

"Tae... what? Where-" Jungkook sat up blinking before evidently remember what had happened the night before. Jimin rubbed at his eyes and yawned.

"What time do you think it is??" The silver haired human asked.

"Probably around 10." Taehyung answered. Jungkook came to stand with him at the car door, peering out.

"Wow! It's so pretty here!! Do you think we'll be able to get off soon??" Jimin came over grinning and slung an arm around Jungkook's shoulders.

"Probably." Taehyung replied. "Usually the trains stop in the morning to change conductors."
~~~
True to his word, the three soon felt the train slow to a stop. Furtively looking both ways, they dismounted the train and ran along the length of the deserted platform and to the nearest road. The air was chilly despite the sun and soon Taehyung could see the other two boys shivering. He frowned, worried. It wasn't good for them to be out in this weather. They had to find some sort of shelter soon. Taehyung's disquiet only grew when he realized that if they wanted to keep from being caught, they couldn't very well just go check into a hotel... an issue he berated himself for overlooking. They were in a sort of downtown area now, though there were still very few people out and about, probably due to the cold. His own teeth were beginning to chatter now and he picked up the pace, dragging the other two with him. He spotted a cafe on the next street corner and hurried towards it.
~~~
The cafe was warm and bright. Taehyung walked back to their table carrying a trey with stemming cups of coffee and three large muffins. Jimin and Jungkook happily began digging in while Taehyung went to talk to one of the waitresses. He asked where the three of them could buy some warmer clothes and she politely pointed them in the direction of a shop down the street. After they finished enjoying the warmth and good food Taehyung lead the other boys to the store where he had them quickly outfitted in long sweaters, warm pants and heavy jackets. After paying for the clothes, Taehyung took them back out into the cold sunlight and they found a bench to sit on. There was a hard knot of anxiety in his stomach as Taehyung began,

"So... here's the deal." He looked at the other two seriously. "If Dowoon really dose send out an amber alert or something like that, checking into a hotel is the fastest way for us to get caught." Jimin and Jungkook took a moment to comprehend his words.

"So... where are we going to go??" Jungkook asked nervously. Taehyung took a deep breath.

"I-I don't know... kookie, you or I could check ourselves in to a shelter for hybrids but we're sure to be caught. Besides, I'm not willing to leave Jimin."

"Well...." Jimin paused. "If it's between sleeping on the streets and going back to my father... I, for one know my answer." They looked at each other hesitantly. It was not a pleasant concept but not one of them was willing to give up so soon. Taehyung nodded curtly.

"Alright then. Our first priority should be finding somewhere sheltered and more or less private to have as our temporary home..."

"How about that?" Jungkook pointed to a gap between shops that was just across the street. Taehyung got up and motioned for the others to follow him.

The narrow alley was nice (for an alley). It wasn't unreasonably dirty and didn't smell bad. There were no trash cans or anything like that. There was, however, a wide fire escape that zigzagged down one wall. It wasn't one of those metal ones with lots of holes. It was solid, meaning that, towards the bottom, it would provide them with shelter from the rain and snow. They lay out the large tarp Taehyung had stuffed into his backpack on a whim out on the ground so they had somewhere dry to sleep and that was that.

Poor babies... 😭😭
Anyway, yay! Congratulations if you've read this far! I really appreciate it. Remember to leave questions and comments if you have them! 💗💗