KOOKIE POV:

I felt (Y/N)'s body slacken, I twisted around in alarm to see her body slumping against the wall. My hands shot out to steady her, watched as her eyes began to become unfocused and slide away from me. I noticed the beads of sweat gathered at her temple, the sheen and sickly pallor on her skin. Her knees buckled and if my hands hadn't been on her she would've gone crashing to the ground.

A startled cry burst out of my throat. It made Yoongi hyung and Hobi hyung dart forward, I could hear them rushing but all I was focused on at the moment was the drained look on her face.

"(Y/N)-ah." I whispered to her, voice breaking slightly. She was unresponsive, her eyes were glazed over.

"(Y/N)!" both hyungs cried out, alarm and panic in the word as they crowded around her, on either side of me, flanking me and subtly placing themselves in a protective stance.

My hands were trembling as they held onto her, she was limp and I watched with growing horror as her eyes slid shut, the very little hold she had on her body vanishing. I had to rush to place my hand to cup her head before it went careening into the wall.

My worry for (Y/N) was mounting, I couldn't even feel the stinging in my own body from the scuffle with Choi. I hovered over her before my arms went around her to scoop her up, cradling her towards my chest.

I knew the reality of everything that had happened was yet to sink in, yet to fully dawn on me but right now I was running on adrenaline and I wanted to get out of here before it petered off.

"Hyungs take us home." I pleaded looking at both of them with shining eyes. They helped me into the backseat, (Y/N)'s head cradled in my lap and when we started the drive back home, only then did I let the tears fall into her hair. I leaned over her, muttering apologies into her hair. That I hadn't been able to protect and that she needed to wake up.

We drove off leaving the flashing police cars and the people behind our horror behind- they would be dealt with at a later point. Right now all that mattered was (Y/N).

"Kookie love, we're here. Come on let's get you both inside. Let hyung take care of you. Come on Kookie, let Hobi take (Y/N)." Yoongi hyung called out, standing in front of the open door, words soft as he stood there waiting.

I didn't realise we'd reached home, that the car had stopped moving.

Hobi hyung's arms came in to gently pick up (Y/N), my grip on her tightened, I didn't want to let her out of my sight right now. I needed to be with her.

I didn't realise I was muttering those words out loud, clutching desperately at her sleeves.

"Hey, hey. Kookie it's fine, you're safe." Yoongi hyung said, I felt my muscles loosen, my grip on her go lax. I was shivering, body trembling. It was sinking in; how close we'd come to losing each other.

Hyung guided me out of the car, arms around me with a solid strength I could rely on, my body was leaning on his but he effortlessly guided me into the house, Hobi hyung behind us as he carried (Y/N). I twisted my head frantically until I caught sight of her, she was safe. Safe.

The moment we entered the living room there was an explosion of noise. Voices overlapping, loud and incessantly buzzing in my ears, it made me recoil. I didn't want sound, didn't want to hear voices at the moment. It was a voice that got us into this mess and even whilst the logical side of my brain recognised that, I couldn't help the nausea that welled up inside me.

"Stop." I pleaded, a broken whisper but it carried over the din and into hyung's ears and I don't know what he said but the voices quietened down. Instead a deathly hush descended over the house.

I didn't realise my feet were moving, didn't realise I was gently guided onto the couch, (Y/N) placed onto it next to me. Immediately my hands sought her out, clutched at her like she was the only thing keeping me afloat. The panicky feeling abated slightly when I felt her skin touch mine, reassured by the warmth that was still being emitted from it despite the deathly complexion her face had taken on.

I didn't let go of her, not when the hyungs asked, not when they approached me with a first aid kit. First (Y/N). Then me. First attend to her and then me. But there was no physical injury on her. Nothing we could make out with our eyes that she had been hurt. If I was one of the hyungs, if I hadn't been there, I would've assumed it was shock. But I knew what she had done. The lengths she had gone to. She had overexerted herself mentally by holding that shield over us. And now she was paying the price. A price she shouldn't have had to.

I don't know if it was seconds or minutes or hours that passed when her eyes fluttered open but the second her hand came to grip at mine, my eyes shot to hers and the floodgates burst open. With a loud pained sound I let the tears cascade down my cheeks, blurring my vision of her slightly. But she was awake. She was fine. Wasn't she?

JOON POV:

From the moment the bond had flared with an extreme level of distress, to the sudden numbness emanating from (Y/N) and Kookie's link, I knew something was wrong. It was something that yanked on my heartstrings and left me doubling over for breath, air that I desperately forced into my lungs. I met Jin hyung's eyes, seeing the same fear and horror mirrored in his.

It was a flurry of movement next, phones desperately trying to contact someone, anyone who could tell us what had happened. Our phones constantly pinging with messages from Jiminie and Tae but they didn't know either. My fingers were shaking when I pressed the dial button to Hoseok-ah's number, brought it to my ear with a prayer on my tongue and felt my world come crashing down when I'd heard.

I stood frozen in the middle of the living room, soul violently lurching and bond steeped in panic and worry. From the little Hobi had gotten out, both Kookie and (Y/N) were injured, attacked by Yuna and a man they hadn't recognised. It made me feel sick, my entire existence revolting against the thought that I didn't know what state they were in, how I would find them.

It was a waiting game.

From the moment they entered the house, the aura over it descended into grief, a soul-numbing chill and the second they filled the doorway I felt my heart come crashing down.

Kookie leaning on Yoongi hyung, unable to hold himself up, eyes dazed and eerily blank but tears still coursing down his cheeks. And behind them, Hobi...carrying (Y/N). Body limp.

The room burst into noise, cries of alarm from the other two maknaes, the sharp gasp Jin hyung let out and then the cacophony of voices. Of all of us desperate to know.

When Yoongi hyung signalled for us to stop, I saw the pain flickering across Kookie's eyes. I saw how he couldn't part himself from (Y/N), couldn't bring himself to move away. How he wouldn't let any of us treat his injuries.

And then the final crushing blow when he burst into tears when long minutes later (Y/N)'s eyes fluttered open.

He was hurting and I didn't know how to help him.

(Y/N) POV:

Opening my eyes was hard, it felt like there were weights pressing down on my shut eyelids, making the chore of dragging them open strenuous. I felt a hand clutch at my, I reached up to grasp it, movement slow but the moment it landed on his, I knew it was Kookie. And the sudden realisation that we were safe came crashing down around me.

I looked into the soft brown orbs of his eyes and watched as they filled with tears, tears that wouldn't stop overflowing. It made me lurch upwards, instinct to check if he was hurting overriding the ache that had settled into my limbs.

My head spun but I forced away the dizziness, pushed it aside. I ignored the twinges of pain in my muscles as I sat up, scrabbled over the couch to gently, scoop his face in my hands. Saw the bruise that was beginning to form on his jaw and the split lip. I tried to summon up the healing energy but it wouldn't come to surface, it flickered, a weak ember that spluttered out. My energy was drained at the moment.

But he was still hurting.

I reached down for the first aid kit that sat on the floor, breathing shallowly through the pain that rippled through my back.

I carefully cleaned the cut on his lip, wincing with him- his pain was my own, slowly rubbing in an ointment into the curve and angles of his jaw. Leaning back to see if he was hurt elsewhere, but the moment I leaned back his hands clutched at me frantically and drew me onto his lap, holding me close to him.

I shuddered with relief when I heard the strong thumping of his heart, beating through the soft material of his sweatshirt. I leaned in further, starving for the reassurance he was fine. I wound my hands around his neck, the act so different to the exuberant circles he'd spun me in earlier and pressed my face into the fabric of his sweatshirt, let my tears soak through.

We were fine. We made it out. But I pressed closer, frantic to feel the warmth of his body radiating and mingling with my own. Tried to block out the phantom touches still ghosting over my body, the revulsion that rose with it. I heaved in deep breaths as I tried to push away the memory of foreign hands that touched me, the pain in my mark still fierce- still recoiling.

"Thank you." I breathed into the fabric. But it wasn't just for Kookie, it was for Hobi oppa and Yoongi oppa making it in time. It was for my soulmates whose combined presences were making the pain abate even if it was in the slightest.

----

It was with great reluctance that the others let me and Kookie leave the living room even if it was just to change. Worried eyes that tracked our movement, each swallowing motion at the food we'd eaten and lips that seemed permanently twisted downwards in pained grimaces. I knew they were hurting too. Even if they didn't voice it.

Kookie still clutched at me, my arms and legs wrapped around his torso, plastered to him as he slowly made the climb upstairs. Even whilst he was picking out clothes for the two of us, his arm remained around me.

When we got to the bathroom though he seemed reluctant to part, even as his arm unwillingly began letting go.

I clutched at it desperately.

"When you're done, can you wait for me? Just on the other side of the curtain? Please I—" he cut me off with a squeeze of hands nodding.

I wasn't ready to take that next step, showering together. Even if it was just another form of intimacy, but I did want him near, wanted to feel his presence.

I quickly clambered into the bathtub, pulling the curtain to cover it up before turning on the water. Scalding hot. I desperately scrubbed at my body, frantically and quickly. I wanted to wash off the feeling of being touched. My fingers dug into my skin almost scratching and tearing at it. My skin was an angry red when I heard the door softly click open and Kookie enter.

"I'm here." Was all he said.

I bit back a sob. I was done being weak. I was done being pitiful. So why did it hurt so much? Why was it no matter how furiously I washed myself, the feeling of being dirty never left? The pain of the mark still searing my skin and sending flames licking and darting up my torso.

I turned the water off. Even if it felt like too much, I wanted help. I wanted them to take away the feeling by replacing it with something warm, something loving.

I reached out to quickly grab the towel, drying myself off and wrapping it around me. I pulled aside the curtain, stepping out before coming face to face with Kookie.

There wasn't a feeling of wanting to hide. I was done hiding. But that didn't mean I didn't feel slightly shy.

Kookie seemed to sense my thoughts before I voiced them and he was spinning around to give me the privacy to dress, pulling on the oversized baggy clothes that he'd given me. I felt the soft fabric flood my body with a sense of security. It smelt like the soft detergent Kookie insisted on using, light floral undertones.

It smelt like home.

----

I quickly darted my eyes around to all seven of them. I was going to do it. I was going to ask.

"I feel...I feel disgusting. Choi...Choi...he ran his hands over me. And ever since I can feel my skin crawling, I want to climb out of my own body with how sick it makes me feel. And—and I want you to make it stop. My mark is hurting. So, so much." I got out, continuing despite the mouths that opened to contradict my words before they sat there in sombre silence listening.

"Where? Where did that sicko touch you?" Jinnie oppa asked, eyes dark.

"Her arms, her waist, her neck..." Kookie got out, words vibrating with anger.

Jinnie oppa stepped forward, knelt down and then he was carefully, slowly, reverently tracing my skin with his hands, replacing the alien feeling with one that belonged. Warmth tingling in my arms.

Hobi oppa and Yoongi oppa stepped up, the shoulders of the t-shirt left my own exposed and their own hands settled on them, lowering their heads to brush their lips across the skin, warm breath fanning across and leaving me with shivers...good shivers.

Joonie oppa and Jiminie took their place, peppering either side of my neck with butterfly kisses that ghosted against my skin, soft feathery moments which made me squirm.

And then it was Tae and Kookie. Kneeling on the ground, looking up at me.

Kookie's hand rested lightly on my waist, Tae's own hands clutching loosely at the hem of the t-shirt, pushing it up slightly from where it sat mid-thigh and stopping when it reached just below my navel.

There was a silent question in his eyes, sought permission for him to continue. A promise that he wouldn't if I refused.

I nodded. Saw how his eyes simultaneously softened and darkened.

I felt the t-shirt slip up, only to the extent where my waist was exposed, felt the gazes brush over my skin in a caress I could practically feel, heating my skin.

Kookie's hand came to rest on one side of my waist, warmth seeping out. But Tae...Tae raised the right side of the top a bit higher, baring my soulmark. I glanced at it, saw the redness which outlined it and watched as he ever so slowly leaned down, hair brushing against my skin before his lips pressed against my mark.

The feelings of comfort, solace, love and pleasure combined flaring out from where his lips kissed and traced my mark. I felt my body loosen, heard the hitched breaths. A breathy sigh which I dimly recognised as my own. Finally the feeling of pain leaving my mark, of the pain ebbing away.

His breath was warm as it fanned across my mark, a last kiss before he raised his head, looking at me dead in the eye.

"Better jagi?" he whispered.

"Better." I breathed back but not just to him, to all of them.

"Never hesitate to ask sweetheart." Joonie oppa's voice rushed over me.

There wasn't desire clouding their eyes, nor lust. It was pure protectiveness and love. What Tae had done was intimate, something shared amongst us all. And I was glad that they were all a part of this moment, that they had all helped in making me feel better.

But Tae's slight smirk spoke otherwise. That he enjoyed being the one to touch my mark...again.

And when I caught his eyes...I saw the words expressed in them. Another first.

(TA DA! SOME SAD BUT COMFORTING FLUFF! I LOVE HOW ALL OF YOU RALLY TOGETHER TO BABY AND CODDLE (Y/N) IN THE COMMENTS...YOU GUYS ARE THERE FOR HER, READY TO JUMP IN THROUGH THE PAGES AND SOMETIMES JUST FALL IN LOVE WITH HER CHARACTER! I LOVE SEEING HOW EMOTIONALLY INVESTED YOU ARE! IT'S SO HEARTWARMING! SO THE PAST FEW DAYS HAVE BEEN A BIT EMOTIONALLY DRAINING AND I HOPE IT DOESN'T COME THROUGH IN MY WORK AS SOMETHING INADEQUATE OR DOWNCAST. IT SUCKS BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO? YOU HAVE TO COME OUT STRONGER THAN BEFORE. HOW ARE YOUR DAYS GOING MY LOVELIES? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU! NEXT CHAPTER...WE SEE THE ANGRY FIERY SIDE TO BTS. PREPARE YOURSELVES!) AND WE'RE BACK AT NUMBER ONE FOR BTS FICS AGAIN! YOU GUYS ARE KEEPING IT UP THERE IN THE TOP THREE FOR THIS WEEK! 🥳🥳

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, love is tested and strengthened through distance. But live every moment loving and living fully!

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3