Unedited :P

Taehyung's POV

After what happened with the vision, I noticed something was off with Juliana. She was acting strangely.

No bitter or sarcastic replies up her sleeve, and she wasn't talkative. I would watch from afar with concerned eyes, as Juliana seemed to crumble inwardly. Her eyes were numb and she moved from task to task in silence — no words spoken.

I couldn't help but think... did she see something? Was the vision was more than what she simply told?

I rolled over in my bed, desperately trying to shut my thoughts off. I was usually heavy sleeper, much like Jungkook. We'd sleep like rocks, unaware of everything going on around us to the point the others even struggled to awaken us. But right now, I couldn't even close my eyes without them shooting open and Juliana would pop into my head.

I grumbled and buried my face into my pillow.

That's when a soft sound weaved its way through my slumber and made my eyes flutter open. Once my eyes fully opened, I listened attentively for any further noises.

I'm definitely hallucinating.

Yet I still heard the whines, and sobs.

Eyebrows furrowed, I threw my covers back and stood, searching for the direction of the sound. Panicked, I hugged my arms tight to my chest, in attempts to calm my racing heart as I slowly stepped out of my room.

I entered the small hallway that connected all of our rooms, listening to the sounds that grew louder and more painful. That's when my head jerked in the direction of the soft bang, where Juliana's room was.

Shit.

The worst ran through my brain — humans kidnapping her, Gems finding our hiding spot or anyone who wanted Juliana dead. I moved swiftly through the hallway, opening the door to her room and peeking in.

But there was nothing.

It was just her, alone. Yet she was crying, her body writhing, as sweat beaded across her forehead. Whines of pain escaped her mouth as her hands balled into fists. Her sobs grew more pained and her body gasped for breath.

I moved toward her, but my hesitant steps indicated that I was afraid. I didn't know what to do or how to comfort her through her pain. I was never any good at these things, because I never seemed to be right with how I did them.

But seeing the pure pain laced in her features, I forgot all about that fear almost instantly. Juliana may have been blunt and cold at times, but she never treated me based on who I was supposed to be... the person everyone else saw.

The replacement of the Order, the royalty, the celebrity — she saw right through the façade.

She saw the person I was; my opinions, thoughts, and how I did things. It may have been wrong to my father, to society, to Onavale, but it was me. If I could remember one thing Juliana taught me for the past month, it was to be yourself and to ignore judgements and rules.

For she was the best at all those things. She never wavered under the prejudice, always remaining strong i  hard times. I never realized how much respect she deserved until now, looking at her struggle.

I licked my lips nervously and reached to take her balled fist into my hand, rubbing it soothingly. "Annie?" I whispered, trying anything that would calm her.

That's when she gasped, her eyes flashing open to look at the ceiling, staring at it in pure shock. Her face paled as tears streamed down her cheeks, and her hand slowly loosened.

I rubbed my thumb gently along her knuckles, trying to pull her out of the daze she was stuck in. "What's wrong?" I asked gently, tucking a strand of hair that stuck to her sweaty forehead.

Seeing her in so much pain made my heart hurt and ache, and I wanted to comfort and protect her from all of it. I didn't know why I was feeling this way — but the strange feeling of tightness in my chest overpowered all logic.

The only thing I saw was her.

As the question lingered in the air for a moment, her bottom lip trembled, and her eyes glistened under the moon peering through window of the curtains. I sat on the bed carefully, making sure I didn't to let go of her hand.

That's when she pulled her hand and body away from me, covering her face and curling into a ball, sobbing.

Instead this seemed to be of pure agony, like a visit from the past.

"I'm a terrible person," she mumbled into her hands. "I'm a murderer."

I moved to sit closer to her, but her body tensed and she gasped quietly.

Juliana's red, pained eyes glanced over at me. "What are you doing here?" She asked coldly, her expressions almost foreign.

I gulped. "I-I heard you crying and I came to see what's wrong,"

"Leave me alone, I don't need your help." Juliana said, looking away from me — reminding me of the first time we met, instead all her confidence seemed shattered.

"It was just a nightmare, so it's not real."

"It's not a nightmare, nor is it untrue," she said, her voice so broken I wanted to take all her pain away in that second.

"I may not know what you saw, but I know enough that you are far from a bad person, Juliana." I replied calmly, trying to move closer to her form that kept curling.

I'd never seen this side of her before, so broken and insecure. It seems we both did a good job at hiding our insecurities, yet it always came back to haunt us, somehow.

"You know nothing about me, don't assume anything," Juliana mumbled, more sobs escaping her mouth.

I slowly reached for her hand again, and she flinched. "I won't hurt you," I said gently, placing my hand on top of hers, to which she didn't pull away, but instead relaxed at my touch.

Her breathing slowed slightly, but her sobs still reverberated through the room. "I'm afraid to get close to people Tae, I don't want to hurt anyone."

My eyebrows furrowed, "you won't."

Her head turned to look over her shoulder, eyes wide and vulnerable, yet questioning. I shifted closer, and Juliana didn't move away from me, letting me in.

"You saved Jimin, you risked yourself by doing this, just to protect us. I don't call that a murderer at all," I licked my lips, thinking of the words that would comfort her. I was nervous and awkward, completely clueless about what I was doing.

"You don't understand," she shook her head stubbornly.

"What do you mean?" I replied softly, moving to sit right beside her.

She sighed, slowly rolling over to face me as she wiped the tears on her face. "Complicated,"

I nodded and kept quiet. I didn't want to pry.

Juliana let out a soft exhale, as her sobs grew quieter and she slowly snuggled into her pillow. I smiled, brushing her black hair away from her face.

"Thank you, Tae. You didn't have to though,"

"I wanted to," I said instantly, knowing that she wasn't in her right state of mind. I hated seeing her like this, I wanted to bring back the true Juliana, the one who I've grown so fond of, and not overtaken by her past insecurities and pain.

Brushing my fingers through her hair, and holding her hand seemed to have worked, for her eyes grew heavier and more sleepy. Yet through her tiredness she was able to let out the soft words of: "could you stay?" So gently and weakly, I couldn't resist the offer.

I nodded to her request, slipping under the covers to sleep next to Juliana.

I was even careful to leave a fair bit of space between us.

***

Narrator's POV

As the calm morning settled over the small home with the trees and birds whistling quietly, and the sun starting to peek through the mist hovering over the hills, Ryujin and Lisa were drying clothing from the days before.

It was common occurrence for them now, upon letting the tired and overworked Juliana have her rest.

"She works too much for us," Lisa said, folding the clothes and setting them carefully in a basket. "Juliana doesn't take care of herself,"

Ryujin nodded, "yeah, definitely. But she's better now that she's grown closer with us. I think she used work as a distraction, you know?" She explained, pulling pinned clothes from the long wire.

The two girls knew Juliana quite well at this point. She refuses to rest, no matter how much either of them told her, and Juliana most definitely won't express her emotions to either of them. Even though it was clear something was wrong.

"She's in pain, Ry. I can see it, especially when she returned after killing that deer — her face looked different." Lisa replied with a worried expression, nibbling on her lip. "I'm worried for her."

Ryujin sighed, releasing a piece of clothing into the bag, and walked over to a nervous Lisa. "She'll be okay," Ryujin said softly. "Juliana is incredibly strong, and not to mention she's grown closer with Taehyung if you can believe that."

Lisa chuckled, a smile appearing on her face. The least either of them expected was for the two to become closer, especially after their rough start. They loathed each other's presence — not to mention Taehyung acted like a spoiled rich asshole to  fuel the hatred.

But Ryujin and Lisa noticed the change in both of them ever since they got here. Taehyung grew calmer, and Juliana a bit more playful. It almost made the two girls confused, seeing them so different compared to before.

"Maybe she'll find someone to trust. Maybe that person will be Taehyung,"

Ryujin replied with a small grin, "perhaps."

[A\N]

Hi guyssss

How are you? :D

(i'm probably going to update the next chapter sometime this week) hehe

AND- Lmk who ur fav character is! Personally, I love Jimin he's so cute TT and Yoongi is pretty epic too :)