A Rose Between Thorns

Chapter 73: Autumn Leaves

Taehyung's POV-

I made my way into my room as quietly as possible, careful not to disturb the woman sleeping in my bed. I could only imagine how she must feel right now, I can feel the guilt settling in my chest as I lay the whiteboard on the nightstand.

Taylor has been blocking us out for the most part ever since the incident, except for Jimin. He's the only exception out of the seven of us, which is understandable. He most likely saved her life that night, who knows what would have happened to her. I shudder to think of what could have gone down if no one was home.

As I turn to walk away, I feel a hand grasping the back of my shirt. I wince a bit, looking back to see the female maknae staring up at me with sad, dull eyes. I thought I was quiet enough, but I guess not.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," I say in a soft tone, and the woman merely tugs on my shirt a little. I take that as an invitation to sit down, even though it's my own bed as she sits up. "I hope you slept well?"

Taylor shakes her head, and looks over at the whiteboard for a few moments before taking it in her hands. I watch as she scribbles down her message, expression unmoving from it's blank state.

Do you regret having me as your soulmate? I read as the woman meets my gaze. What? Why in the world would she think that? I wonder as I shake my head.

"Of course not!" I respond, wrapping my arms around her. I feel her tense a bit in my hold, I only wish I had an ability like Hoseok's to ease her stress. "I think I speak of all of us when I say we wouldn't want anybody else. You're perfect for us, no question."

Taylor erases her message before writing a new one, leaning her head against my shoulder. I'm not blind, I know that if I wasn't here then you guys wouldn't be as stressed out as you are now.

I frown and don a serious expression, not liking her statement one bit. "Now listen, that way of thinking needs to stop right there missy," I say in a stern voice, surprising the woman. She looks up at me with wide eyes, a brow raised in confusion.

"None of this is your fault. If you weren't here we would all still feel incomplete, we would still have the ache in our hearts knowing someone was missing. Knowing YOU were missing. Don't think for a moment that we would just toss you away because of some incident. We care for you not because we have to, but because we want to. You're one of us, you're a part of this family so don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Taylor's expression softens a bit, and after a moment I hear a knock coming from the front door. I gasp as I bolt up from the bed, a bright smile on my face. "They're here! Taylor, I have a surprise for you, you're going to love it!"

The woman tilts her head in confusion as I pull her up from the bed, smoothing her hair down so she doesn't have to worry about bed head. I smile to myself, remembering how she would complain about it whenever we woke her up in the morning, or how cute she was with her threats.

Like Yoongi, we knew she would never follow through with said threats, though Yoongi doesn't let us get away with it so easily. I remember when Taylor went to wake him up once, and got completely drenched in ice water.

Yoongi was prepared for one of us guys to come in, so when he heard her scream of terror we could all feel his regret. The next hour was spent with him apologizing profusely while Taylor looked like she wanted to rip his head off.

But that was before the incident. Let's hope this surprise can at least make her smile a little.

I take her hand and lead her out of the room, where Jungkook is waiting for us in the hallway. The maknae smiles and takes her other hand, covering her eyes with his free one as all of us head over to the living room.