(Y/N) POV:

I tug Yoongi out of the room, not knowing exactly where to take him but knowing that this conversation can't be avoided. I can't just stand there, continuously seeing him hurt and not do anything about it, not allow him to lessen that burden by telling someone.

Instead I end up leading him back out to the car and it's with slightly shaky hands that he withdraws the car keys and opens it. I gently usher him towards the back seats, sliding in after him before turning to face him.

"Yoongi what is it?" I ask, watching as his eyes remain downcast, head curving forwards as he resolutely stares at his lap.

I lean forward to tilt his face up, see the pain so openly expressed across his face and I feel my heart shatter for him.

"You can tell me anything. There's no judgement, I promise." I utter seriously and finally at long last do his eyes meet mine.

Clouded with hurt and pain and suffering, brown mingling with the red- a battle within himself, a turmoil he's ever so hesitantly reaching out for help for.

"I...I think you being my mate has put you in danger." He confesses, voice sounding distraught and shattered- eyes clearly awaiting my reaction which he is resigning himself to believe will be shocked and will withdraw from him.

I take a deep breath, trying to level myself from that information he's given me.

"And..." I prompt, knowing there's more to it than that.

"The fear of that is making me have nightmares about my past. For the first time in centuries I'm scared..." he says, voice trembling and shaky as he speaks.

"What about your past Yoongi, what is it that's holding on so tightly to you?" I gently ask, not knowing whether or not that question may have pushed it too far, but at the same time knowing that someone had to be the one to say it.

I prepare myself for him to retreat, to shrink away from my touch rather than lean into it as he is now. I wait for red hurt eyes to turn on me and the Yoongi I'd known to return.

But he sobs, a broken sound- amplified in the otherwise silence of the car; shattering through every restraint holding me back and I rush forward to hold him in an embrace.

His arms come around me in a tight squeezing way- desperately holding onto me, pulling me closer into him, needing that comfort and reassurance of the physical presence of his mate.

He's shaking as he holds me, I can feel the wetness of his eyes press against the curve of my neck.

"Take your time Yoongi...I'm not going anywhere." I say when he tries to speak but a breathless gasp tears through his throat instead.

It's a few minutes of him holding me, me holding him, sharing in that silence until his breaths become more even rather than laboured and he calms down slightly.

"One of the biggest reasons why I found it hard to trust you even if you were our mate was because you reminded me of people I had known. People who had the same softness you did, were kind and gentle- but they showed their true natures once I trusted them. And I feared and waited for you to change too." He says.

And suddenly I feel a cold, chilling clarity rush through me again.

Even though Yoongi had mentioned this that day when we'd bonded, it doesn't fail to fill me with cold shivers about the life Yoongi had escaped. That the reason he'd found it so hard to trust me was because I reminded him of those demons.

"But from them there was this man...he was so kind, comforting. He reached in to help me, accept me when others called me a monster. He was human at first and yet he was everything for me. He made me feel normal, loved, cherished." Yoongi murmurs, voice thick with emotion and the pain of recollecting.

I had a horrible sense of foreboding that rushed through me, making my skin feel prickly with anticipation and my breath to seize in my throat.

"And then....then he made me his toy, used me to play with. He did the most despicable stuff to me and let others watch, and he'd do things to others and make me watch..."Yoongi says but then his voice tails off, and the tears that soak my skin are hot and quick and constant.

He doesn't need to say more, I can feel my stomach churning with nausea- throat feeling as if it would close in on itself, air coming out thin and raspy.

I feel horrible for having pushed him to open up about his past but relieved at the same time that he isn't bottling it up, it makes me feel cruel for pushing him to this state but I'd rather I shared in those horrors with him then let him suffer alone.

"Yoongi I'm so, so sorry. That you suffered, that you were alone, and that you're hurting. But I will never, ever let you feel alone again. I won't let you suffer alone. Anything you want to say, want to share- I am always here for you." I say, stressing over it so he knows and understands that for me- I'm in it for life, and that means for him too.

He leans back , shiny watery eyes meeting mine and I'm not surprised when he raises trembling fingers to wipe away tears that have fallen without my knowledge.

"Don't cry silly." He says, but his voice has a tremor and the tease goes unnoticed.

"I'm crying because you hurt so much. I'm crying because my mate is so incredibly strong, he's a survivor." I say, hiccupping slightly when he looks at me with reddening eyes.

"I've never thought of myself like that. I've always seen myself as weak for letting it still hurt me." he says, voice thick with self-blame.

"You're perhaps the strongest person I know. And I'll tell you that every day." I vow.

There's a silence after my words and it's almost painfully shyly that Yoongi speaks up next.

"Is it...I want to tell you it all. Is that fine?" he says, looking up at me.

I look at him seriously.

"Min Yoongi I want you to share the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly- I want you to share it all. Whenever and wherever you want." I say.

His arms pull me off the seat from where I've been sitting next to him and onto his lap, burying his head into my shoulder.

And I can feel his lips moving as he mutters furiously.

And it takes me a moment to realise that what he's saying repeatedly is 'thank you' over and over again.

And if my heart didn't break before...it shattered into a million pieces now.

For this self-sacrificing mate. Who'd never shared for the fear of hurting his mates. And had finally gathered the courage to open up to one. It took bravery of the soul for that.

And I knew Yoongi was the bravest soul there was.

I knew only time would tell me more, unfold more of the horrors of his past- but I was going to be there every step of the way for him.

JIMIN POV:

"Where'd they go?" I asked when Hobi hyung had finally ended our argument by pulling my lips firmly to his- silencing any protests when he'd taken control and proceeded to kiss me breathless.

He looks at me with swollen lips and glittering eyes, head darting frantically to search the room before a disbelieving laugh leaves those lips.

"They must've snuck out whilst we bickered." He muses before snagging my hand and going over to grab his things, pulling me out behind him out of the studio and back to the car.

Sure enough the two of them are there.

But surprisingly hyung is in the backseat. Looking very comfortable with (Y/N) on his lap. But a closer glance reveals that the two of them have been crying- the red-rimmed eyes, and dried tearstains attest to that, but they look so comforted and at ease with each other, those small smiles bright and earnest that I don't have the heart to question what's happened, nor separate the two.

I slide into the passenger seat, throwing them a smile over my shoulder as I buckle up but Hobi hyung is having none of that. He slides easily into the driver's seat but before even starting the car turns to shoot the two of them a look that is serious and fond.

"Yoongi hyung, you can't have her on your lap when I drive." He says.

I turn to watch the scene as Yoongi hyung looks unbelievably sad and unwilling to detach from her, I see the way his arms tighten protectively around her, as if preparing for the imminent separation when one of us will try to part the two.

But he huffs and allows her to slide off his lap but doesn't let her stray further than the seat directly next to him, their sides pressing against each other as he silently takes her hand and proceeds to look elsewhere.

I giggle at the way hyung is trying to be subtle about it but ends up being blatant instead.

"Hobi we aren't going to get home without the car driving." He says, shooting him a look.

Hobi hyung lets out an exasperated laugh before twisting back to face the front.

"Roger that hyung. I'll just be the driver." He mutters under his breath.

But the smile that stretches across his face speaks for itself.

He's pleased.

For the two of them.

And in all honesty, I am too.

KOOK POV:

There's a change in Yoongi hyung when he returns home with Hobi hyung and Jiminie hyung in tow. Something different in the way he walks, stands in the doorway, talks...something shifting inside him. I don't know what it is but it's so starkly different to the way I've known him, seen him- especially these past few months, there's less stiffness, more ease. As if he's settled confidently into himself, become comfortable within his skin.

But it makes me wonder whether I'd missed it this entire time or it's a recent change. But I can see the happy surprise on the hyung's faces- can see it in the way he seems to smile at nothing, lost in thought- which is a common thing, but this time not with plagued eyes but bright eyes.

I snuggle into his side eagerly, snagging the spot before Tae hyung can- even though he shoots me a wounded look before flouncing off to sit in Jin hyung's lap. Hyung scoops me into his side, his arm strong and comforting as it wraps around my shoulders. I turn to burrow my nose into his side- to be calmed and filled with his reassuring unique scent.

But my nose is attacked with a lingering trace of a different scent. The sweet tones of it instantly telling me that it's (Y/N)'s. It doesn't hang heavily on hyung, he's not steeped in it as Tae hyung had been but rather it's a gentle mingling- as if her scent is settling with his, intertwining and becoming one. I don't know well enough to be able to tell if it's an emotional shift or a physical one.

But for the first time in a long time...hyung looks content.

And Jin hyung has his eyes on the two of us when I curl up against Yoongi hyung- his eyes are red with warmth and love and there's a smile on his lips.

Something happened. Something changed.

But it was for the better.

And I'm not the only one whose noticed. The others have too.

And when I'm cuddled up with Joon hyung later that night, his large frame enveloping me in one of the softest, comfiest hugs, I twist in his arms to face him.

"What is it bun?" he asks, voice warm as he tilts my jaw up to look at him properly.

"Yoongi hyung seems happier...did you notice?" I ask, head tilting slightly to take in the full sight of hyung's face that even in the covers of darkness comes out as soft and gentle- inviting and welcoming.

"I have, he seems at ease. Comfortable in a way he wasn't before." Hyung muses, even as he lifts my body, hands securely settling on my waist before he spins, lying flat on his back and me on top of him.

I clutch instinctively at his shoulders, trying to keep my balance but his fond laugh coaxes a smile out.

Hyung's lips are warm and soft as they reach up to meet mine, a sigh escaping me when they meet. He kisses me slowly, deeply, his hands darting under the hem of my shirt to stroke against skin that shivers and melts under his touch. His fingers dance across my waist and his hands settle on the base of my back, fingers teasingly roving up and down. He parts my mouth with his, my lips pliant and willing as he delves his tongue in slowly, the movement of it matching the way his fingers play across my skin. It's sweet, soft, and tender. Just like hyung. 

When he parts our lips, I try to chase after them- unwilling to let go of the comfort and security those lips promise, wanting to taste the sweetness again.

He laughs fondly.

"Are you happy bun?" he asks.

I don't need a moment to think it over, to turn the question over and over in my mind.

I'm happy because we're finally eight. I'm happy because hyung is happier. I'm happy because I found my mate in a human- who tore away at the memories I'd associated with them.

I'm happy so I don't need to think as I nod before capturing his lips with my own.

And his pleased hum is answer enough.

Hyung is happy too.

(HAPPY HAPPY! EVERYONE IS HAPPY! AND YES- WE HAD A BIT OF A TEARY HEART TO HEART AND MAN I'M JUST D Y I N G TO DELVE INTO THE BOOK AND STRANGLE THE MAN WHO HURT OUR PRECIOUS YOONGI- ALL IN FAVOUR SAY AYE! HOW WAS IT? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS! AND BECAUSE YOONGI IS SLOWLY OPENING UP, EVEN THAT TINY CHANGE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE BECAUSE HE'S NO LONGER HURTING ALONE- HE'S OPENING UP! AND WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE TO (Y/N)?! AWW...MAYBE A DATE NEXT CHAPTER! WHO DO YOU THINK IT'LL BE WITH? GUESSES? STAY SAFE AND TAKE CARE LOVES!)

THANK YOU FOR THE 100K READS MY LOVES!! 🥳🥳🥳

Healing isn't something that happens automatically or straight away. It doesn't have to be visible. Healing is a process of the heart and soul mending too, of easing over those hurts and recovering from them. Healing is a journey of the heart and soul.

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3