(Y/N) POV:

Packing for a few days takes a lot more time and hassle than I'd ever expected or anticipated. I didn't expect my mates to hover half-protective, half-intrigued as I slowly made my way around my room, Jimin tagging along with one hand tightly intertwined with my own. That's another distraction entirely- the way his hand somehow wraps mine up securely, a touch that's soft and gentle but also slightly tight in the way he doesn't let them separate for a single moment. The constant tingles and warmth that the touch causes keeps distracting my attention and several times I make small, furtive glances in disbelief- as if I can't believe that of all people, Jimin is the one I'm holding hands with. 

And then when I finally am able to banish the others from my room, their larger frames posing as obstacles that made navigating the room even more difficult, they retreat but there's still two more vampire shapes obstacles in the form of JB oppa and Gyeomie who are tracking our movements very closely and MJ oppa is perched happily on my bed with a lapful of mate.

But those four pairs of eyes don't burn as intensely as the one trained from my side, I can feel the constant darts, long stares, and lingering eyes- most of the time not even wavering when I catch him out on it. But after having grabbed enough changes of clothes, I dither when I realise I still am to approach my underwear drawer- having skirted it when Jimin decided to peek over my shoulder when I'd nearly opened it- hands frantically diving for the toiletries instead.

But then salvation comes when Eunwoo comes bounding over, his tall easy frame somehow worming in between the gap where Jimin and I stand, Jimin's hand squeezing mine in surprise at the sudden weight he bears on top and over the shoulder Eunwoo shoots me a soft smile, that's understanding. I gratefully smile back, yanking the drawer open and grabbing some pairs that sit at the top, shoving them deep into the crevices of my bag when I make a mad dash back- dragging Jimin along.

And a blush threatens to colour my cheeks when I spot a scrap of pink lace poking out just as Jimin turns but MJ oppa deftly shoves a large sweater on top- one I recognise as Mark oppa's and pushes down, hiding it from view- smiling sweetly, winking when our eyes meet.

All these small sweet gestures just remind me that I'm surrounded by loving people who have my back. These few days I can get through, it's not like I'm walking into a dragon's nest....I'm going to set foot into a nest that belongs to my mates, that one day might be mine too. A home they'd called it for me- clearly telling me that for them, I belonged. 

But who knew saying goodbye to the four walls you called your own, even for a small period of time, would hurt? And when I see Youngjae oppa tuck Gyeomie close when his lip begins to wobble- I feel guilt and sorrow, and twist away to hide the betraying sting in my eyes. JB oppa brushes a kiss across my forehead, holding me close for a few moments and then I allow them to take me to their nest.

----

When we reach the familiar large house, I feel both a lurch of excitement and nervousness- this is their territory, their safest place where they're comfortable and at ease. And I wonder if they're going to leave me alone with Jimin and split off to do their own things and I'll be resigned to having to endure through a stilted, awkward passing of time.

But that doesn't happen. When Jimin offers to drop my bag off to his room, which I realise with a bolt of sharp stinging fear is where I'll have to sleep for tonight at the very least, I shakily nod, trudging behind him with small slow footsteps. But the ambience is lightened when Jungkook and Taehyung bustle after us, their cheery voices filtering through the rising panic and unease.

"Once you've put your stuff down, let's do something together." Taehyung proposes with a wide grin and earnest face, beside him Jungkook nods eagerly- shooting me a heart-wrenchingly sweet smile and eyes that twinkle with hope.

I nod.

"I'd like that." I reply.

Jimin's room is light and airy, soft shades and hues that are so starkly different from what I'd envisioned- and it's soft colours are so welcoming that it helps abate the panic and worry and I find myself stepping in, eagerly taking in the way that cute trinkets are dotted around the room, the way one wall is dedicated to a large spread of photos- starting off as black and white to present day where memories are captured in bright colours and polaroid. His love for his mates is clear from the love that pours out of each photo, how each moment captured are beautiful and timeless and his soft gaze that follows mine is sweet and tender as he looks at the photos alongside me.

But Taehyung and Jungkook are eager to usher us out, taking the bag and plopping it down onto the large bed, door shutting behind them as I find myself in the same hallway as the first time I'd visited, but this time Jimin isn't hiding and seeking cover behind a door, he's right next to me.

"So where shall we start?" Taehyung asks, expression joyful as he looks expectantly at me.

TAEHYUNG POV:

I note the stiffness in (Y/N)- can see it from the moment the door of her apartment closes behind us. She's nervous and on-edge which is completely understandable but that doesn't mean seeing her go through it is easier somehow. I share a look with Jungkook and he gives an understanding nod back- we resolve ourselves as the two in charge for banishing her discomfort at whatever cost.

When she enters inside the nest, there's a shift- I can feel the house pulsing with joy- as if somehow attuned to the fact that all eight of us are home, sharing in the joy that Jin hyung is experiencing. But there's also a stiffness as (Y/N) follows Jimin up the stairs and we follow- knowing that she isn't comfortable around Jimin and if we left her alone with him, it wouldn't help her in any way. If anything it could heighten the panicky feelings emanating off her.

And it's with an excited, determined gleam that I ask where we should start. 

So Kookie and I first shepherd the two to the games room, where immediately Kookie's competitive spirit comes to rise. But what I am pleasantly surprised by, is that the unusual situation doesn't make (Y/N) silent and just observant, but her competitive streak begins to show too and she's relentless as Kookie engages her in a series of games, determined furrows and cute pouts on both their lips.

She emits cute huffs and indignant sighs she lets out when Kookie's elevated senses and sharper reflexes provide him with an edge, an advantage- but she doesn't let it faze her, doesn't complain about it. She decides to take action with how merciless she becomes in games- comments and voices fading out and only the sounds of the game filling the air. But I know more than once that Kookie lets her win subtly, he too has noticed the sad pout when she loses- and I know that he too is weak for the sad face she pulls. It's so incredibly endearing and tugs at my heartstrings the way her shoulders droop when she loses a point- and I can already see the way she'll have us wrapped around her finger without realising.

Jimin I notice stares at her too. Wistful, long glances and softening eyes. Sometimes expressions of wonder and amazement- as if he truly can't believe that she could be like this, that under her sweet exterior and sweet soul, there was also a fiery side to her.

And when Jin hyung calls for us to come help with dinner, there's resigned sighs but (Y/N) is chipper and eager too to rush to the kitchen, where the large vast room awaits with Jin hyung turning expectantly towards the door as we enter. His smile alights when (Y/N) moves forward, her quick steps causing Jimin to have to hurry behind her- hands tightly intertwined still.

She ends up dragging him around the kitchen as she flits from dish to dish- chopping with deft ease, stirring sauces, going to the fridge- and all this time there's sweet pride in Jin hyung's eyes. At our youngest mate cooking- which perhaps she doesn't realise is such an intimate act because the food we'll eat will have had her touch and love and effort poured it into but also the fact that out of the maknaes of the mates- there's one who genuinely seems to enjoy cooking with a fervour that matches hyung's.

And there's a teasing, knowing twinkle as his eyes land on Jimin. Seeing the fake torment for what it is when really there's a sparkle he can't hide at trailing behind her with a tender gaze.

But when we sit down to eat- there's a noticeable tension.

Because we sit down as eight. And even though Yoongi hyung doesn't directly talk to her, his eyes linger when her head bends under the combined force of all seven of our stares, notes just as sharply as us when she only picks at her food listlessly whilst the others dig in with gusto. And when she notes Jimin struggles to eat because his dominant hand is intertwined with her left, something shifts because then she drops her hand and nothing happens and he's left with a flush on his cheeks. 

There's joy emanating from everyone too though, that our table is finally filled- and I realise this is our first meal together, all of us but it's dampened with concern at (Y/N)'s silent presence at the table and even Jin hyung fails to coax her usual giggles at his jokes, nor does she accept any more food- her plate still largely filled.

I just hope this tension begins to ease. Because the way she's curling up into herself isn't a good sign. It's worrying. And I'll do anything to hear her tinkling laugh...even once today.

JIMIN POV:

I feel a slender leg locking our ankles together and when I look down I see that (Y/N) has managed to intertwine them so that the skin is touching and then she's extracting her hand from mine. I flush at the intimacy of the gesture but also yearn and miss the comfortable weight and warmth that I had grown accustomed too in my hand and it still feels odd using that hand rather than it being tightly interlocked with hers.

And when we rise from having eaten, I see Taehyungie's eyes widen with understanding and a sweetness as he carries the dishes away, (Y/N) gaping at the very blatant display of physical strength.

Sly mate.

And when Namjoon hyung suggests a movie, Hobi hyung agrees- eyes flashing over to (Y/N) and deciding that relaxing is ideal and suggested. Everyone else melt into cuddling positions, on laps, or lying together on couches as Jungkookie sets it up but (Y/N) sits stiffly next to me, hands once again interlocked- but when she catches Yoongi hyung's observant sharp eyes, she curves away from it- and subsequently ends up shifting closer. I meet hyung's eyes over her head- silently pleading him to take the steps to get to her- she's right here. But hyung gives a subtle shake, that perhaps now is not the time, and there's an expression on his face that he gets when he's deep in thought. I resign myself to hoping he'll hurry- I know I can't bear to see her suffer like that again.

But I force myself to focus on the film, not the way how she smells so enticing next to me, nor the way my mind buzzes with thoughts and my heart aches with regret that even glancing at her seems like a liberty I'm not entitled to. The others shoot glances towards us at first but quickly settle and become engrossed into the film- I'm staring so intently at the screen that when there's a sudden shift and a weight pressing into my side it startles me. I turn to see (Y/N)'s eyes shut and body leaning onto mine, sleep having tugged at her and demanded some sort of support. The hand she had intertwined with mine is pulled up slightly as she shifts, tucked towards her heart and into my side. As if the presence of it will soothe and heal her soul quicker. There's a pinch of pain in her face but she looks relaxed finally- no longer able to feel any worriers and fears that she harboured awake.

I push out the calm I want her to feel, hope she feels through our touch- allow it to wound around her heart with a tender touch and soon that pinch eases out. I can't stop marvelling at her and my other hand aches to bring her closer but I will myself to stay still- to allow her to rest. And when Hobi hyung comes over later to drape a blanket over her on his way back in- his touch eases the pain and she sighs in her sleep- relieved and comforted. And continues to rest next to me.

That stiltedness that had been there the entire day when I'd been around her is gone, smoothened out by her tiredness. And it hurts knowing that she can't be fully relaxed around me, that her guards are still up. But that's because of me, and slowly I hope I can help those barriers come back down- that I help her open up towards me and our bond is healed and becomes stronger.

But on the couch over with Kookie in his lap, Yoongi hyung's eyes don't waver- just continue to observe and I wonder what it is that is going through his mind.

YOONGI POV:

Her presence demands my attention. It's there soft, silent, and sweet and strong. Her heady scene is so intoxicating now that we're finally in the same room that I wonder how the others ever managed to exert control and self-restraint. Every instinct of mine screams in agony and protest that there's a vulnerable mate right there- and here I am struggling to hold back but still not broaching that distance.

I keep seeing her with figures of my past- they keep overlapping and mingling into a horrible jumbled mess. And I don't want to see her like that. Don't want to associate her with the ones who'd tormented and tortured- but that hurting part of my heart keeps holding me back.

I grab Kookie's waist tightly, use his body as an anchor to ground me and literally hold me here and not rush across the room to cross the distance between us. 

Memories, taunts, threats come flooding back, sliding poisonously around my mind- and I bury my head desperately into Kookie- use his scent, the comfort of his presence to keep me tethered here and not drowning desperately in pain. He seems to realise something's wrong because he turns in my lap and holds my head close where I burrow it gratefully into his stomach, melting out my surroundings and just filling my senses with everything that is him- our baby.

But even with her hidden from view- her presence remains demanding, urging me to go close and just accept her.

The urge was so strong. But I had to hold back, not just for me but for everyone else, for her too.

(THERE YOU GO! AN OUCHY BONDING CHAPTER- SOME SOFTNESS AND LOTS OF LONGING! PROTECTIVE COVEN WILL R I S E AND TRIUMPH HERE! THEY'RE NOT LETTING THEIR BABY MATE GET HURT- NEVER IF THEY CAN HELP IT! AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE FIRST DAY- LET'S SEE WHERE THE OTHERS TAKE US! AND THE DAY IS NOT OVER YET! LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS MY LOVES! AND WE HAVE CROSSED AN ASTONISHING 50K READS! THANKS MY LOVE FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! STAY SAFE!)

Our past even though it's gone manages to hold a tight grip on us, changing and influencing the way we live our present- but don't let it hold you back, tie you down or stop you from grasping those opportunities! 

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3