~Lean on me~

Yoongi thought what he had threatened Bella's mother with would calm things down.

But it didn't.

"Excuse me?" Bella's mother shrieked, causing Bella to flinch.

"You heard me. Now, we're all going to calm down and finish this meal in a friendly manner. I mean it, Mrs Batchelor, I will have you removed from the premises," Yoongi reiterated. Bella turned her attention to him, amazed at why he was so hellbent on protecting her from her own mother.

"Who are you to threaten me, young man?" Bella's mother asked, her supressed rage beginning to seep through her tone.

"Me? I'm someone who cares about your daughter, which is more than can be said for you," he retorts, enjoying the shocked and almost wounded expression on Mrs Batchelor's face. The older woman takes a step towards Yoongi in an attempt to seem menacing, despite being at least six inches shorter than him.

"Watch your tone, mister. We wouldn't want you to lose your scholarship because you harassed an elderly woman now, would we?" Her sudden threat caught both Yoongi and Bella off guard. 

Yoongi was mortified, but hid it well. She knows and now Bella does too. How did she find out?

Bella, on the other hand, was stunned. Why did Yoongi feel the need to hide this from her? He always tried so hard to make sure Bella didn't pay for anything, besides the rent. Sure, they hadn't always been on the best of terms, but surely he had faith that she would've put aside their petty squabbles to help him out.

"Yoongi," she spoke, for what felt like the first time that night. Yoongi snapped his head in her direction, his dark eyes softening when they met her tearful ones. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Bella snuck a glance at her mother, who was watching the exchange with fire in her eyes. "In private," she added.

Yoongi responded with a short nod and followed her down the hallway and into her bedroom. She closed the door, making sure to click the lock so her mother wouldn't barge in.

"I'm not going to ask you why you hid it from me because that's not important right now," Bella began, turning around to face Yoongi. She took a step towards him before bravely reaching out, taking his hands in her smaller ones, with a touch as soft as cotton. "But I do want you to know that you don't have to be ashamed. I also want you to stop paying for everything and let me help. We're roommates, right?" She smiled, "roommates help each other out."

Yoongi was on the verge of tears after hearing her kind words and for some reason, he didn't feel afraid to show her his emotions. He rubbed his thumbs over the tops of her hands. "And I also want you to know that I can - and will - protect you. When I'm around, you don't have to be afraid of your mother. She'll have to get through me before she gets to you, okay?" After seeing her nod, Yoongi took his phone out of his pocket, dialling a number.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked, her eyes on his phone.

"I'm calling security to come and get your mum," he replied before placing the device to his ear.

"Hello? Oh, hi Steve. Yeah, there's a bit of a problem here. An uninvited guest is refusing to leave. You'll come over right away? Perfect. Thanks Steve, I owe you one," he hung up, smiling at his roommate.

"Sorted. Shall we go out and say goodbye to your mum?" Bella nodded with a smile that Yoongi returned with his devious one. He clasped one of her hands in his and led her out of her room. As they walked down the short hallway towards the living area, there was a definite knock on the door, to which Mrs Batchelor took upon herself to answer.

Opening the door as Yoongi and Bella rounded the corner, she was met by the stern face of Steve, Yoongi's personal favourite security guard. When he was having problems with drunk freshmen turning up at the wrong dorm frequently last year, Steve helped him out by putting an extra lock on his door, which worked a treat, apart from the drunken grunts of disapproval that came from the other side of the door every now and then.

"Yes?" Mrs Batchelor greeted rudely. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually madam, you can. If you'd be so kind as to follow me," Steve put his hands on his hips, the gesture seeming to have nonchalantly revealed the taser on his belt.

Yoongi and Bella heard the gasp that escaped her mother's lips and stood in the middle of the living room, still hand in hand, as they watched her demeanour crumble. The older woman was left with no choice but to surrender and follow the security guard.

Before leaving, Steve flashed a wink in Yoongi's direction and Yoongi replied with a thumbs up.

The door to their dorm soon closed and the two roommates collapsed in laughter, Bella for once not feeling scared of what her mother would have to say the next time they spoke. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd get an angry essay in the form of a text from her mother later tonight, but with Yoongi around, she suddenly didn't mind anymore.

"Thank you," Bella said after they calmed down. The two friends were sat up against the sofa, still on the floor as they hadn't bothered to get up after their hysterical moment.

"I should be thanking you," Yoongi replied, looking at the side of her face.

"Why?" Bella asked, turning to face him, only to realise he was already looking at her.

In a rare moment of blinding confidence, Yoongi reached out and placed his hand against her cheek, rubbing small circles with his thumb. Bella felt her face heat up, but enjoyed his touch nonetheless. 

"For giving me a reason to fight for what I want in life. I don't want to be the guy known for living in poverty his whole life, only getting into university with a full ride because he happened to be good at basketball. I want to be able to go back to my hometown one day and prove everyone wrong," he explained in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper.

"You can lean on me, Yoongi. I have two shoulders and they're both reserved for you," she smiled, placing her hand over his that was still stroking her cheek.

"Only if you lean on me as well," he negotiated. Bella turned her head and laughed into his wrist, her lips brushing his skin softly, following the contours of her smile.

"Deal," she whispered, sealing her words with a peck to the palm of his hand.

****

so much happened here i don't even know what to say...

anyway, it's finally happening. as it should, this is an enemies to lovers story after all.

in other news, i've finally landed a part-time job, so updates may become slightly more sporadic, but i'm hoping they won't. i am spending all of this week prewriting chapters though so, as long as i don't get too excited and upload them all at once, i should be able to do regular updates soon!

as always, vote and comment 🤍