Junmyeon knocked on Areum's door "sweet girl can I come in?"
Areum looked at Sehun and nodded he said "yeah c'mon Junmyeon. You're gonna have to talk soon angel."
She whispered "tomorrow."
Sehun kissed her head "ok tomorrow. Want me to leave so you can cuddle?"
She shook her head no and smiled at Junmyeon.
He smiled "hi sweetheart. You feeling any better?"
Sehun said "she's been sleeping all day. She just said she'll talk tomorrow."
Junmyeon nodded "do you think you're ready to go outside again? It's really nice out and I wanna take you on a date. "
Areum looked at him and nodded.
Sehun gently said "angel you're gonna have to talk if you leave."
Junmyeon said "it's ok sweet girl. You don't have to unless you want too."
Areum pouted up at Junmyeon he chuckled "nope if you want cuddles you gotta ask for em."
Sehun kissed her forehead "please talk. I miss Dae."
Areum slapped his chest "you're my brother you're supposed to spoil me."
Sehun laughed "ok angel but I really do miss Dae and his dick."
Areum whined "Myeonie come cuddle please?"
Junmyeon pulled Sehun off the bed by his feet "of course sweet girl."
Sehun ran out screaming "Jongdae! Baby I'm free!"
Jongdae screamed back "I've got the lube!"
Areum gagged "why are they like this?"
Junmyeon hummed "you've had Sehun and Chanyeol in here for a week. I'm sure Dae and Seok missed them as much as I missed you."
"I'm sorry."
"no Areum you have nothing to be sorry about. What happened was bullshit and this week of not talking was just your way of coping with it. Don't apologize for taking care of yourself."
Kyungsoo knocked on the door "Sehun said you're talking again. Do you want something to eat?"
Areum nodded "thank you Soo."
He smiled and left closing the door halfway before Jongin and Luhan were pushing it open again.
"oh, babygirl I'm so fucking sorry."
"I should've gone with you shorty."
Areum said "it's not your fault Lu. He said he wanted to reconnect, but he kept asking about Myeon and got upset when I said I wouldn't leave the man I love for him. Jongin it's ok Sehun and Chanyeol handled it."
Jongin said "you just said the man you love."
"yeah I love Junmyeon. He knows this."
Junmyeon kissed her forehead "I love you too sweet girl.'
Jongin asked "but is it like love love or you've been in my life nearly 15 years love?"
Luhan said "you're annoying let them be in love."
Areum said "I don't love him like I love you guys and Sehun. It's different. Junmyeon makes me happier than I ever imagined I could be."
Jongin nodded "I understand that ok have fun with Junmyeon."
Junmyeon kissed Areum's head "get dressed sweet girl."
She looked up at him "for what?"
"just wear something comfy and pretty. I'll be downstairs waiting ok."
He kissed her again before leaving her room.
She thought for a moment then decided to put on her blue flower print dress Minseok gave her.
She took a quick shower and put the dress on.
She matched it with black flats and pit her hair in a messy fishtail braid.
When she went downstairs the boys stopped talking and looked at her.
Yixing was the first to speak "how you feeling baby?"
She smiled "I'm ok Xing. Ummm where's Sehun?"
Baekhyun giggled "Jongdae is fucking his brains out in the tent I set up on the backyard."
Kyungsoo said "you look very pretty Areum. Are you going somewhere?"
Junmyeon said "I'm taking her out for some fresh air. You do looks pretty sweet girl."
Luhan smiled "I'll clean up your room for you while you're out."
Minseok said "we can do a movie night or something when you get back ok baby."
Chanyeol kissed her head "have fun Dove enjoy your time out with Myeon."
Jongin looked at her hair "oooh a fishtail. That's nice. Have fun shorty."
Junmyeon held his hand out "sweet girl are you ready?"
Yifan said "it's a little chilly take a jacket."
Areum sighed "ok dad. NiNi can I borrow a jacket?"
Jongin tossed her his black jacket and said, "go on before Luhan makes you stay."
She tied the jacket around her waist before leaving holding Junmyeon's hand.
They walked to the park quietly a little girl ran up to Areum "hi I like your dress it's pretty."
"oh, thank you sweetie."
The little girl giggled and then ran back to her mother.
Junmyeon smiled "you've always been good with kids, haven't you?"
"I took care of my little cousins when I lived with my mom."
Junmyeon hummed "do you wanna sit or keep walking?"
Areum smiled at him "can we play?"
"you're 23 and I'm 27."
Areum giggled "so what I'm gonna go doe. The rocket slides."
She untied Jongin's jacket and pulled it up her legs, so it sat on her hips.
"what the hell are you doing?"
She glared at him "I'm wearing a dress. Wearing the jacket like this will stop these children from seeing my underwear."
He chuckled as she ran happily to the giant red slide.
The little girl from earlier tugged in Junmyeon's shirt "is that your girlfriend? Will she play with me?"
Junmyeon smiled down at the young girl "yes she is my girlfriend. Go ask her I'm sure she'd love to play with you."
She giggled running towards Areum as her mother walked over to Junmyeon "I'm sorry about her she thinks your girlfriend looks like a princess."
Junmyeon chuckled "I do too."
The little came running towards Junmyeon pulling Areum behind her.
"Mr. Junmyeon can you push us on the swings please?"
Junmyeon smiled at her "of course sweetie. What's your name?"
She grinned up at him "my name is Rain."
"oh, that's a pretty name."
Rain held his hand as the three of them walked away from her mom towards the swing.
"my mommy said it's because I was born on a rainy night."
Areum helped Rain into the swing "oh that's so cute. How old are you Rain?"
She giggled as Junmyeon gently pushed her "I'm almost 7. How old are you guys?"
Junmyeon said "I'm 27 and princess Areum is 23."
Rain gasped "wow! You guys are so much older than me."
Junmyeon looked at Areum "get in the swing sweet girl I can push you both."
She smiled as she got in the swing "did you call me princess?"
Rain giggled happily "you look like a princess."
Areum smiled and said, "I think you look like a princess too Rain."
Junmyeon and Areum chased Rain around the playground laughing at how happy Rain was just by running from them.
They played with Rain for a while before her mom came up to them.
"Rain honey it's time to go home. Say goodbye to your friends."
Rain pouted as she hugged Areum and Junmyeon's legs "bye you guys. Thanks for playing with me."
Areum smiled "it was our pleasure sweetie."
She looked up at Junmyeon "Mr. Junmyeon take good care of your princess so she doesn't become a sad one."
Junmyeon made an X across his heart and said "cross my heart and hope to die. I'll keep her happy Rain."
Areum said "you better go sweetie your moms waving for you."
Rain skipped away giggling.
Areum looked at Junmyeon "can we eat?"
"what do you want sweet girl?"
She was quiet for a while "oh corndogs!"
He smiled down at her "ok let's go find some corndogs."
She held his had as they walked "thank you Myeonie."
"for what?"
"getting me out of the house. I know I told Sehun I wasn't thinking about what happened, but I was. I just couldn't stop."
"Areum."
"he was my best friend Myeonie. He used to stay up late at night with me when I had bad dreams. He fucking dressed up like ironman for my fifth birthday. He promised to protect me from bad guys forever and he turned out to be one."
Junmyeon stopped walking and gently held Areum's face in his hands "Areum baby listen to me ok?"
He waited for her to acknowledge that she was listening before speaking.
"what Tao did was terrible and wrong but you can't keep dwelling on it. Yes, it happened. No, you're gonna keep thinking about it. You're gonna move on with your life. You're gonna be happy. You have all eleven of us to keep your mind off him or talk about it if you wanna cope but don't close us out and depress yourself thinking about him. And for the love a god please stop blaming yourself. You had no idea that would happen."
"but I."
"no, it wasn't your fault. Don't try to justify what he did. You're not wrong for being with me. You're not wrong for telling Tao that you love me. He's wrong for what he did. Wrong for how he reacted. You did the right thing by telling him straight forward instead of leading him on."
Areum kissed Junmyeon but didn't say anything as she walked towards a hotdog cart near the park gate.
She smiled at the man "hi do you happen to have corndogs?"
The man smiled back "yes I do. How many would you like?"
She looked at Junmyeon then at the man "can I have two please and thank you."
The man nods getting two corndogs for her "that'll be 2.50."
She paid the man as Junmyeon held her corndogs.
"and for you sir?"
Junmyeon hummed already paying the man "I'll have the same."
Areum sat on a big rock to eat while Junmyeon stood next to her.
"ready to go home sweet girl?"
She nodded "I'm kinda tired and I wanna bug Sehun."
Junmyeon chuckled "you're the most annoying clingy little sister, aren't you?"
She proudly said "yes. I always have been."
They walked home in a comfortable silence.
The boys were all outside when they got back.
Some looked worried some looked pissed and then there was Luhan who looked disappointed.
Areum asked "what's wrong with you guys? Why are you all out here?"
Yifan said "Areum I we have bad news."
Junmyeon squeezed her hand "well what is it?"
Luhan said "babygirl they umm. Well Tao is out of jail already. Somebody bonded him out."
Areum went pale as a ghost after Luhan stopped talking.
Chanyeol softly asked "Dove you alright?"
She ignored him and went straight to her room.
Junmyeon stayed with the boys "ok so how do you know he's out?"
Sehun said "the automated system calls the victim or whoever's' number is listed in the police report when the person gets released. They called me almost immediately after you left."
Kyungsoo said "we think he might try to meet with her again."
Baekhyun said "so we've decided she can't go anywhere alone. She needs at least two of with her at all times."
Junmyeon nodded "ok I'm gonna check on her."
He went to Areum's room and found her asleep curled in a ball on top of her blankets.
He kissed her forehead gently before covering her with a thin blanket "everything will work out sweet girl."
A/N: the next couple chapters may be dark compared to these eight chapters but I'll have trigger warnings and all that jazz. So yeah I hope whoever's reading this is enjoying it.