sarah

A/N: this first chapter was originally written for a short story contest, hence why it is so short. I hope you enjoy nonetheless!

My dull  eyes  stared  at  my  red-tinted  glass  in  my  hand  hovering  over  the bar counter I sat at, taking in every detail of the alcohol-filled  cup. A velvety voice sounded next to me, distracting me. I looked to my side, glancing at the handsome man. He caught my gaze, grinning and cocking his head to the side.

„Never thought I’d see you here, Sarah.” he commented, his voice smooth.

„Oh, you mean, you never thought I’d go out besides going to the cafe down my street?” I remarked, eliciting a small chuckle from him.

„You know that’s not  what I mean,” he replied, making me roll my eyes and smile.

Before I could say a word, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and grip it tightly. I turned around in surprise, ready to push the person grabbing me away; but just when I opened my mouth, I looked up and saw my best friend standing behind me, a slightly tipsy look on his face. He smirked sloppily before pulling me into him and hugging me, nearly crushing me with the tight grip he had on me, tearing me away from the guy I was talking to before. I pulled away rather harshly, staring up into his half-lidded eyes.

„First of all, dumbass; why did you drink? You know you can’t, who let you do this? What happened?” I nearly yelled into his face, that seemed ready for me to slap his already slightly red-tinted cheeks. „Second of all, it’s too late for you to be out, don’t you have practice tomorrow?” I asked, tapping the back of his head lightly as a warning for what I was almost about to do.

„Look, Sarah, I’m really not in the mood to talk about it, alright? I’ve had enough „talking” for the day already, and I just wanted to come out a bit and drink, is that a sin?” he asked, his voice hinted with slight anger as he looked down at my smaller figure. „Besides, you’re not my mother to tell me what to do; I’m not underage anymore, okay? I know what’s right and what’s not, I’m not your dumb kid who’ll just listen to whatever you say.” he said, his voice now boiling with frustration, his eyes glossy with tears pooling at his tearducts.

I could immediately tell something was wrong with him, or well, rather his girlfriend he’s been arguing with for the last couple months. They’ve been dating on and off and I’ve been taking care of Taehyung on his low days like I always have. I know him too well already, he can’t really phase me with anything he says.

What he does is really predictable to me at this point; he’ll fight with his girlfriend about something, then he’ll have a meltdown, and take his pills against panic attacks, and then, finally, he’ll go to the bar we always go to together to drink until he can’t even walk straight. Luckily, I caught him before he drank too much, or well " this time, he caught me instead.

I sighed and grabbed the two men’s arms to drag them over to a free lounge-like area with couches and armchairs. I let go of them and fell back onto the big couch, patting the two seats beside me, waiting for them to sit down.

Once they’ve taken their places next to me, sandwiching me between the two of them, I sighed deeply and turned to my tipsy best friend, staring into his half-lidded eyes.

„What the flying hell were you thinking, Kim Taehyung? Why do you always go back to her, trying to get her back, trying to change everything, and once you do so, you mess everything up and we’re back to doing this again!” I yelled, my eyes clouded with anger as I clenched both my fists beside my petite figure between the two noticeably big men beside me. „What the hell do you think this is, some kind of Russian Roulette?! Do you want to continue letting her use you like that, then throw you away like you’re a piece of paper?! Answer me, Taehyung!” I continued, tearing up as I kept looking at his tired features.

He exhaled shakily, taking one of my fists inbetween his hands. He sniffed a few times, trying to avoid eye contact with me or with Jungkook behind me.

After a long minute of silence, he spoke up. „I don’t know what I was thinking, Sarah. I really don’t. I wish I could forget about her like she forgets about me, but it’s really not that easy. Of course, you wouldn’t know, your boyfriend has been with you for years, you’ve never fought with him, really.” he half-whispered, making sure to take a breath between sentences so I could understand him clearly. His tears were like waterfalls on his perfect face, trailing down his cheeks to the edge of his perfectly sculpted jawline, then falling onto his hand that rested over mine. „I have no idea what I’d do without you, and this time, I’m serious. I know I say the exact same thing every single time, but this time, I mean it.” he smiled faintly behind his tears, slightly chuckling. „This was the last time you see me like this, alright? I promise.” he finished, sniffing at the end of his sentences.

I tore my fist away from inbetween his hands and wiped his tears with the sleeve of my sweater, his tears leaving wet stains on the striped fabric.

Just when I opened my mouth, my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I reached behind me to pull out the device from my back pocket, but after seeing that the number was Unknown, I quickly muted the phone and placed it on the coffee table before the couch we were sitting on.

After a long moment of silence and me quickly glancing from one of them to the other, Jungkook finally spoke up.

„Not to ruin the mood, but do you guys want drinks? I’ll be glad to treat you to some.” he distracted us with his signature smirk on his face.

I quickly looked at Taehyung who was rapidly nodding already, wanting to drink more booze. Sighing softly, I turned my head back to the dark-haired handsome man, who was already standing up, towering over the both of us.

„Yes, please.” I half-whispered before reaching out for his shirt to pull him down. „But please don’t bring anything too strong for Taehyung, you know how he is with drinking.” I said to him, staring into his huge, almost bunny-like dark eyes.

He nodded before flashing me a faint smile, standing up and walking over to the bar counter across the club.

My gaze quickly travelled back to my best friend who was sitting on my right side. Just like Jungkook did a second ago, I flashed Taehyung a smile before looking down at his hands, which were cupped and he was fiddling with his thumbs, almost as if he was nervous about something.

„What’s up?” I asked sweetly, taking one of his hands inbetween my own. „Wow, your hands are like ice cubes. What’s going on? Why are you nervous?”

I didn’t get an answer for a few long seconds, just a stare.

„Listen,” he sighed, placing his unoccupied hand on mine and started rubbing the soft skin with the pad of his thumb. „I didn’t want to tell you about this, because I thought you’d know, but May cheated on me.” he quickly said, almost too quickly. He inhaled sharply and said „Multiple times.”

My mouth hung open as my blood was slowly starting to boil. Right at the second I let out a sound, Jungkook nudged my back, waiting for me to take my drink. Swiftly, I turned around, grabbed the two full cups of alcohol and gave one to Taehyung, quickly patting at the leather of the couch on my left, asking for Jungkook to sit down.

As I felt the sofa dip beside me, I turned my attention back to my best friend.

„To be honest,” I inhaled. „I knew from the start this wasn’t going to go right. She just didn’t look like the type for you. You, at first, looked head over heels for her, seriously, but I saw your love slowly fading, it was kind of obvious. I know this is a weird question, but why did you want to be her boyfriend so bad anyway?” I asked curiously, trying to figure the answer out for myself in my head, failing miserably.

All I elicited from him was a low and dark chuckle which left me with a confused look on my face.

„I told you already, it was a mistake. I really misunderstood her for another person. And you are right, after a little while, specifically after I found out she was cheating on me for the first time I lost my interest in her. But I was kind of, how do I say this… Forced, to go back into the relationship with her. She liked me because I had money, and I was easily manipulated. She threatened me saying she was going to hurt my family and my friends, which I know she wouldn’t do, but without thinking of it, of course I believed her with my naive personality everyone already knows too well.” he explained, happiness washing over his features, which I didn’t understand. „Being in a relationship with her was, like you said, a Russian Roulette. She was dangerous and I knew it, but now you know why I wanted to stay with her.”

After hearing his last few sentences, I smiled faintly, staring up into his eyes, memorizing his perfect features for the nth time in my life.

„Also, I wanted to ask you about something.” he remarked, making me curious and confused at the same time.

I nodded my head a few times before mumbling „go ahead”.

He gulped, his adam’s apple bobbing, „I know this might be a little early after my breakdown, but I swear I’m not drunk and I’m sincerely speaking, because I want to come clear on some things.” he said, all in one breath. Without a pause, he continued, „To put it shortly, I’ve had feelings for you since the first time you helped me out with my not-so-perfect mental condition.”

Before he could say anything else, I cut him off, „I love you too.”

Author's Note

- Please ignore if there are any grammar or punctuation problems! I have a Hungarian Word program and it tends to correct words however it likes, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes.

- I'm not a professional writer, I'm just a teen who likes the idea of writing to express my feelings and write down my imagination.

- Please rate my stories fairly, keep in mind that I am underage, so the way I write might not be the same as other writers do!

- Lowercase chapter titles are intended!

- Please enjoy!