Chapter 57 - Family

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Amelia had finished her shower and was now drying her hair while sitting on the toilet

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Amelia had finished her shower and was now drying her hair while sitting on the toilet. Ah, so this was it felt like when she used the products Ellie bought for her while her hair was normal. Not too shabby! She liked it, the scent was nice.

She hummed in the back of her throat, her favorite lullaby being her preferred tune, while blow-drying her hair. She always sang it unconsciously, even if her music repertoire was very large.

Picking out clothes was a little strange. Not that she didn’t like the clothes Ellie brought. The problem was that, after her magic had started to regenerate her body, her weight had increased only slightly, now no longer drastically low. She still had a way to go until her body was back to how it had been, however.

She had chosen a pair of black leggings and one of Jungkook’s grey sweaters. She hadn’t felt like wearing a wool sweater and most of the t-shirts Ellie brought were a little tight.

Amelia was coming out of the bathroom, combing her hair with her fingers, and feeling immense satisfaction at how soft it felt, when the door of the room burst open and a very much winded Jungkook rushed in, panting. He looked straight to the bed and he winced when he found it empty. Amelia could almost see the gears in his head turning, as he imagined all sorts of scenarios as to why she wasn’t in bed.

Jungkook finally diverted his eyes to the rest of the room, his breath catching in his lungs when he spotted Amelia exiting the bathroom.

In a span of seconds, Amelia saw a whole bunch of emotions cross his eyes.

Confusion, concern, surprise. And then relief, bewilderment, fascination...

Love.

“Hey…” Amelia breathed out, smiling softly when he tried to say something.

The breath Jungkook was holding in left his parted lips in rush and he visibly relaxed. That was when he finally moved from his spot and stalked towards her with large strides. Amelia didn’t even bother to move, only waiting for his arms to wrap around her. Jungkook buried his face in her neck, tears flowing from his eyes in streams from relief, as he hugged her close to himself.

For the longest time, it was just that, Jungkook hugging her close to himself, while she relaxed and enjoyed his warmth.

“Jungkook?” Amelia called, smoothing her palm on his back.

He hummed in response but didn’t really bother to move from his place, still hugging her impossibly tight and hiding his face on her neck. Amelia smiled a little, warmth filling her chest at his reaction.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook mumbled after a long while, one of his hands brushing over her hair.

“Yes, I feel fine.” She reassured.
Jungkook didn’t seem convinced.

“Really? Nothing hurts? Are you really sure you don’t wanna rest some more?” He raised his head from her neck when Amelia nodded, and she saw his teary eyes filled with panicked concern “Are you really alright, now?”

Amelia giggled, nodding one more time and allowing Jungkook to rest his forehead against hers. She didn’t blame him for being so worried. Amelia had nearly died twice…

His hands came to rest around her neck while Jungkook closed his eyes, inhaling her scent and engraving it in his mind. It was like a sweet combination of spring flowers all in one, the distinct freshness of the citrus like scent from her hair making it even more alluring. Now that she was finally better, her natural scent was resurfacing. And he loved it.

When he opened his eyes, her honey gold ones were analyzing his face, studying him as if in concern.

“Your eyes are beautiful.” He mumbled, his thumb stroking her cheek and marveling at how nice it felt to have her skin under his hands.

It was strange…

He had come to love Amelia for her personality, firstly, after she woke up. She was stronger than she let on and had a kind way of making herself stand out. Of the time they had spent together, right before Emily arrived at the mansion, Amelia had always been nice, warm and sweet to all of his brothers. Jimin liked her exactly because of that. With Taehyung, he had seen the more fierce side of her, in the way she responded with sarcasm lacing her tone.

And after the twins arrived, he had come to love the way she smiled when around her family, how she playfully joked with them and how she always had love in her eyes when it came to them.

Not that he didn’t think of her as beautiful, he truly did. Amelia had very pretty features, that he had noticed when she was still asleep. But her health had made her look frail and feeble so, even with a beautiful face, she had looked too ill.

Right now, he was falling deeply in love even more with how beautiful she looked.

Amelia breathed out a laugh, the sound like music to him.

“Thank you. Why did you walk in all scared, though? Did Jin tell you anything weird?” She asked, stepping slightly away to look at him properly.

Jungkook noticed she was wearing one of his sweaters and he couldn’t be happier.

“Uh… Yeah, he said there was someone in my room and I kind of- uh, I got a little excited to see you awake.” He grew flustered, now thinking how ridiculous he had looked, barging in like he did.

“Ah! Well, the hug was nice!” Amelia said, shrugging a bit with a cheeky smile on her lips.

Jungkook smiled, a little dopey. He was getting flustered all of sudden. It was like her whole presence intimidated him, now that she looked so different. The healthy glow in her was so distinct, she almost didn’t seem like the same person.

“Are you hungry? Have you eaten anything?” Jungkook suddenly remembered, getting ready to leave and get her something to eat.

“Yeah, Jin cooked for me. I was starving!” Amelia moved to fold her sleep wear and then made her way to the door “Did you know he has a chef degree? I had no idea, at all. Not too surprised, though, the guy can cook.”

Jungkook followed her out, smiling as he did, listening to her ramble. Downstairs, he heard the front door open and close, leaving Jungkook to wonder if the twins and Lucy were all back. He was kind of curious to see what they’re reaction would be.

Amelia got a little giddy when she reached the top of the stairs and saw Mina stretching her arms above her head, wearing a black dress, with Jimin matching her with a black suit. Em was bickering with Namjoon, yet again, and this time it seemed the guy didn’t believe Em was good at poker. Yoongi and Hoseok were highly amused, while watching the two.

Lucy was nowhere in sight, though.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Amelia waved shyly to Namjoon, who was the only one turned towards her. The guy raised his eyebrows, surprised.

“Holy shit!” He said, a little under his breath.

When the twins heard him, though, they turned and went a little wide eyed. Em, being the sap she was, instantly got tears in her eyes. They both sprinted to meet her halfway in the foyer, tackling her at full force. Amelia yelped when she fell down with both sisters on top of her, one on each side. Em was full on crying while Mina was insulting her between kisses on her cheek.

From the kitchen, Luna heard shouting and crying, which lead to her exiting the room. And when she noticed the girl giggling on the floor, twins on top of her, she made her way to them, teary eyed.

“Oh, no, no! Luna, Luna!!” Amelia yelped again when Luna straight up kneeled and toppled her as well “Ah, Mina, my boob!”

The foyer was filled with laughter and surprised awes, everyone now questioning Amelia if she was alright.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, oh, my God!” Em wailed, hiding her face on the girl’s neck.

“You stupid bitch, don’t ever pull a stunt like this, ever again!” The redhead said, going back to kissing Amelia on the cheek.

“Are you alright, now?” Namjoon asked, crouching to look at her in awe.
“I’ve stopped feeling my boob and I think Luna is numbing my legs, but I’m fine!” Amelia said, giggling when Luna held on tighter.

Yoongi laughed, scrunching up her hair “Welcome back, little witchy!”

Amelia was in heaven, at the moment. Her levels of contentment were over the roof. She discovered that Namjoon had already healed and was fine. Jimin came to hug her and Hoseok kept complimenting her hair, even saying it looked like she’d had it dipped in red wine. When Yoongi came to hug her, Jungkook had frowned and pulled the guy back, telling him it was enough with the hugs.

Yoongi just grumbled his younger brother was a prick.

Luna kept trying to not cry and ended up going to the kitchen with a pout, with the excuse of wanting to bake something for dinner.

“Where’s Lucy?” Amelia asked, still wondering why her mentor was nowhere in sight.

“She said she wanted to go to a jeweler. I don’t know why, though.” Mina said, taking off her shoes “But she asked us to give her our jewelry to her, yesterday.”

The group was now sitting in the living room, Amelia between the twins, much to Jungkook’s dismay, as they talked. Jimin was describing to the guys the jazz bar him and Mina had gone to, while Namjoon occasionally messaged someone on his phone.

Mina and Emily finally showed Amelia their familiars. The two tigers were massive and incredibly intimidating. Parvati, Em’s familiar, was calm and quiet, allowing Amelia to touch her and then making her way to the other side of the room, near Yoongi’s feet, to lay down peacefully.

Lakshmi, however, had the behavior of a house cat, sniffing Amelia’s hands and then attempting to come up on her lap. Wasn’t happening though, the tigress was way too heavy and large.

“Now you can stop nagging me how I have my familiar and you don’t.” Amelia said, smiling mischievously at Em, who scrunched her nose.

“Did you know it was Amelia that summoned the Leviathan, back in Lucy’s backyard?” Emily asked Mina, who was rubbing her tiger’s ear.

“Of course I knew, I dared her to do it.”

“WHAT?!”

There were snorts and laughter in the room, which only disgruntled Emily even more.

Amelia grew a little flustered at some of the guy’s comments on how she had gone berserk, moving like a ninja. She couldn’t help but crack a smile when Hoseok said he was more scared of her than the demon, especially considering she just poofed and reappeared all the time. She couldn’t blame him, though, Amelia was aware of how scary she could be.

When everyone started to ask questions about her familiar and saying they wanted to see him, she felt nervous.

“I- Uh… I don’t know if you can see Zhyao Wu, just yet.” She mumbled, a cold feeling in her gut “I don’t even know if I can use my powers properly, I haven’t tried, yet.”

“Ah, right! Too long without using them.” Yoongi said, crossing his arms “Makes sense, though, you probably need time to get used, right.”

Amelia nodded, a little uncomfortable at the reality. It was true, though. It was like going through the whole process of learning everything she already knew. It was downright frustrating and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

At all.

Taehyung was seated at the edge of his bed, looking at the painting he had yet to finish. He kept wondering if she would look different after waking up. Most likely… Luna sometimes complained that her hair wasn’t as beautiful as it used to be. The Alchemist had been very much bemused at how strangely textured and dull Amelia’s hair had been when she had been braiding it, the other day. She looked beautiful in his canvas. But, then again, she looked beautiful in his eyes.

He was confused at how his brain would sometimes instantly draw her face, nowadays. It was almost instinct at this point. Every time he picked up the pencils or pen, Taehyung would immediately find her features on the empty paper.

Taehyung was also now figuring out how he could get rid of the canvas. Maybe he could burn it, but where? And he didn’t want to ask any of his brothers as to avoid comments. Perhaps it was just best to keep it away, hidden very well, so that he himself couldn’t look at it.

Footfalls on the hall, passing his door in a rush, had him getting up and placing the white sheet on top of the painting again. He was curious of who could’ve passed the corridor so fast, so he went outside and took a look around. The sound of a door closing was the only thing he heard. But the faint smell of lavender was obvious.

Luna…

Closing the door behind himself, Taehyung made his way to her room, following the soothing scent of lavender. He hadn’t yet seen her properly today, so he was actually curious to know how that bruise in her cheek was. As soon as he walked inside the house with the guys, Taehyung had simply made his way upstairs and closed himself to the world.

He knocked, not having a response back. When he listened in, Taehyung frowned. Was she… hyperventilating or something?

Ever so carefully, he walked inside, looking around and hoping to find her slight figure in the room. He found her, yes. Luna was on her knees on the floor, looking like she had lost her footing and fell there. She was on the carpet, hands trembling badly, as she tried to take deep breaths and failed miserably, choking on her own air. She sniffled pitifully, looking up to him and wincing in annoyance.

She was flushed, eyes red with tears, that fell continuously down her face. One of her hands came to her bruised face and wiped it a bit too roughly. Luna cringed.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” He asked, a bit confused as to why she was balling her eyes out.

“It’s nothing, you- you can leave.”

“Luna, you can’t breathe, what did this?” He asked, a bit annoyed at how she still refused help, even when she was looking so miserable.

“I’m- I’m fine- “

The woman choked again, this time having a fit of cough. Taehyung sighed and rubbed his eyes, trying to think of what to do. He didn’t know if he should call someone or simply leave her be. Because, he was tempted to just drop her there and go back to his room. He was that much of an asshole.

Instead, he found himself going towards the bed and grabbing the blanket that was on top of it and bringing it to the floor to place it around her shoulders. Luna’s labored breathing intensified and her eyes rolled closed at the same time he was now sitting on the floor in front of her. Taehyung saw her grip the dress at her chest, like it hurt there, before she whimpered meekly in pain.

She sobbed harder when placed his hands on arms, trying to offer some sort of comfort to her, rubbing the blanket on her skin.

“Amelia- She- “ Luna attempted, hiccuping and having to stop talking to cry a little more “She’s- “

“What?”

He panicked a bit, struggling to keep his composure when she said that, thinking that maybe the breaking of the seal hadn’t worked and Amelia had… lost. The possibility had his blood running cold.

“She woke… up.” Luna whimpered, frowning and placing a hand on her mouth to stop herself from crying.

Taehyung felt a wash of relief. So, she really was alright… But Luna’s panic was making him on edge. Why was she so worked up over Amelia if the Witch was fine?

He finally pulled Luna to himself, feeling odd as he hugged her to himself. Luna barely resisted, her hands shaking as she gripped his shirt, now, breathing heavily and sobbing her little heart out against his neck.

“Amelia woke up. She’s alright again… She’s alright now!”

Ah…

As Luna started to hiccup and continuously cry, he finally understood. This had been too much for Luna. He had always thought the woman was putting up this strange façade while taking care of the people around her, and he was right. Luna wasn’t strong. She was weak… and she had acted as strong as allowed because it helped not break down in front of people. She had done her best to keep Amelia from dying, to keep Lucy healthy, Mina from succumbing to her own powers and Emily from going insane with grief. And all this time she had been in horrible pain. Afraid of losing her family.

Her sisters.

“You did a good job, Luna. She’s safe.” He mumbled, hugging her and rubbing her back in soothing motions.

She whimpered again, snuggling close against his neck.

He thought it would annoy him, but it didn’t. Taehyung actually managed to find some sort of comfort there, in the way her warmth felt against him, how her arms were wrapping around his torso and her tears were sliding down his neck.

Again, he felt like a dick. Because, amidst her pain, Taehyung found comfort for himself over the fact that he was in love with his brother’s mate. And how he had nearly lost her, but she was alright at last. He hated how much he, himself, needed this hug from Luna, now that things were better. Hated how much his body loved to be like this with her, because it wasn’t fair for her. Luna was in pain, terrified and in a panic over the possibility of almost having lost her sister, and he was taking advantage of this proximity to comfort himself.

Luna’s crying resumed to hiccups, after a while. By now, Taehyung’s hand had found it’s way to her hair, and he was now moving his fingers on the silky strands. He liked how soft her hair was, how long, all the way down to the small of her back. It made her look a bit like a fairy of some sort.

“Why are you here, Taehyung?”

Her question surprised him. Even more so because he didn’t know how to answer her. He could have just ignored her scent in the hall, he could have chosen to ignore the hurried steps he heard at first. But no. Taehyung had come all the way here, to hug and comfort her… even though he could’ve just walked out.

“I don’t know…”

Luna sighed and started to remove herself from around him, wanting to put distance between the two. Taehyung didn’t allow her, however, and his arms snaked around her smaller torso, so he could place his face on her shoulder.

“Taehyung, let go of me.”

“No.”

“Taehyung, you have to stop this- “

“The painting...” He mumbled, suddenly numb and empty “It’s her.”

He felt her tense against him. Amelia was probably right. Luna had feelings for him. And he was hurting her badly by doing this to her. But he was desperate. Taehyung didn’t know who else to speak to. And this was eating away at his sanity. As his voice broke, tears started to flood his own eyes, now.

“Amelia?” Luna whispered, one of her small, soft hands coming to lace between his hair “You’re in love with Amelia, aren’t you?”

He nodded. And allowed tears to flow for the first time in centuries.

~ Sass 😘 [poor TaeTae]

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