The Meaning of Family: The Collections

Ways to Say "I Love You"

Request:
"I'd love it if we could find out why they never say "that certain phrase"!"

Notes:
Seokjin talks about the emotional abuse his stepfather put him through

Ages of the Characters:
Jin - 31
Namjoon - 31
Yoongi - 14
Sophia - 14
Hoseok - 13
Jimin - 12
Taehyung - 11
Jungkook - 10
Amelia - 9

Sophia and Yoongi clapped for Amelia as she got a strike in their makeshift bowling game. When the three of them had arrived at Abuela Martinez's house after school, Amelia had said she wanted to play a Halloween game, and the elderly woman had eagerly suggested a friendly game of pumpkin bowling, which was much more difficult than Yoongi had expected. He questioned for the dozenth time how he was losing to a nine-year-old as he stepped for his next turn, small pumpkin in hand. "If we ever actually go bowling, you are not allowed to be on my team with that stance." Sophia, once again, made fun of Yoongi's chosen way to bowl.

"One more comment and the title of best friend is automatically revoked." Yoongi warned her with a playful glare before turning back to the plastic bottles they had set up in place of bowling pins. Yoongi bent at the waist and used both hands to toss the pumpkin towards the bottles, only for it to slow down and stop before even touching them.

Sophia snorted as she tried not to laugh. "Maybe if you had done it like a normal person, you would have actually hit something."

Yoongi looked over at the nine-year-old who was still clapping for him regardless of him sucking. "Amelia, you're my new best friend." Amelia cheered and ran to give the 14-year-old a hug while sticking her tongue out at her older sister.

After a few more rounds of bowling, Abuela Martinez called out from where she was sitting in the shade of the lone tree in the backyard to get their attention. "Yoongi, your dad will probably be here soon."

Yoongi called out an acknowledgement to the elderly woman before moving to clean up with his new best friend and her older sister. "You don't hate me for stealing your friend, do you?" Amelia asked as the three of them carried the water bottles into the house to place back in the fridge.

Sophia playfully rolled her eyes at her little sister. "No, I still love you~"

Amelia smiled widely up at her sister, her eyes nearly disappearing from how scrunched up her face became. "I love you too!" She gave Sophia a hug before running to the living room where Abuela Martinez had settled herself in her chair.

Yoongi closed the refrigerator door after placing the water inside as Sophia spoke to him. "Why don't you guys ever say that?"

He turned to look at her, confusion written all over his face. "What?"

Sophia shrugged. "I've known you for ten years now and I've never once heard you or your dads or brothers say that you love each other. I don't know, I guess I'm just curious because in my house, the phrase gets thrown around at least once an hour."

Yoongi pursed his lips and leaned back against the kitchen counter as he thought it over, and he quickly realized that his family didn't voice their love for each other very often, if at all. "I don't know, I've never really thought about it." The teenager stated honestly before shrugging. "I guess the words aren't necessary because we know that we love each other."

"Yeah, but how do you know?" Sophia asked curiously. "Amelia would probably forget that I love her if I didn't tell her constantly."

Yoongi let out a small scoff. "It'd be hard for us to not know it. I mean, ignoring the fact that one of my dads removed us from abusive households and placed us with our other dad, who has since provided a nearly perfect life for us, we're shown everyday how much love is in our family. From helping Jungkook out with his math homework to everyone's presence at every single one of our orchestra concerts. Although I could do without Dad's obnoxious applause." Yoongi couldn't help but roll his eyes at the memories of his dad screaming at the top of his lungs to get Yoongi's attention before concerts just so he could wave to him. "I think it'd be kind of weird to hear anyone actually say they love me though." Yoongi could see that Sophia was about to question what he meant, so he decided to go ahead and explain. "The last person to tell me they love me was my birth dad...and he obviously didn't mean it, so..." Yoongi finished with a shrug, and Sophia's eyes immediately filled with sadness.