Trusting (KTH)

Chapter 43

Thinking back, Taehyung had never seen Clara have a nightmare which was surprising considering everything that had happened. It seemed that track record was about to change as Taehyung could see the nightmare sneak in and begin to overwhelm her.

It started as just a bit of restlessness. Then her forehead wrinkled up as she squeezed her eyes closed tighter. Finally she began to mumble and thrash about.

"Clara, sweetheart, I'm right here," Taehyung whispered in her ear while gently nuzzling her cheek with his. "It's ok, time to wake up now, it's just a bad dream."

Eventually Taehyung broke into her dream far enough to wake her. Clara shot up like an arrow, clutching her chest as she breathed deeply, tears beginning to flow down her face.

"Hey," Taehyung tried to draw her attention while rubbing her back, "Hey Clara. I'm right here, everything is fine, you just had a nightmare."

Clara seemed to begin to relax at his words, quickly burying her face in his chest as tears streamed down her face.

Taehyung took the opportunity to sit on the bed and pull Clara into his arms. Gently rocking back and forth he shushed her, trying to drive away whatever bad memories were haunting her.

For Clara's part she offered no resistance, clearly too distressed by her dream to allow space for her anxiety of secret recordings to seep in.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Taehyung gently prodded. "Would that make you feel better?"

Clara gripped the front of his t-shirt tight in her hands, shaking her head 'no' against his chest. "Too scary."

Taehyung had a hard time hearing her but eventually gathered what she was whispering into him.

"Ok, we can wait until it goes away then. Nobody's going anywhere."

Taehyung continued to hold her close against his heart. While it hurt to see her so upset, he was secretly relieved to have her in his arms, offering her comfort and closeness while she didn't pull away.

After several minutes of sniffling she did pull back. "I'm sorry, I just had a bad dream. I think I'm better now."

Taehyung rubbed his hand up and down her back. "Don't worry beautiful, I'm here for you any time things are scary. We are a team fighting bad things together."

Clara looked at her hands as everything that had happened over the last week came flooding back.

"Hey, look at me," Taehyung pleaded, eventually brushing a few fingers under her chin so he could draw her eyes up to look into his. "I'm sorry for everything. Really. Including going back on my promise. And I'm sorry I wasn't in a position to talk about it this morning. You deserve better than that. I know the managers are going to come and get me soon because we have a concert tonight. Can we try again to talk about everything tomorrow morning? I'll really listen to everything you have to say. Can we do that?"

Clara nodded her head yes, eyes still glossy with tears.

"Good. In the meantime I'm going to order some room service." Taehyung could immediately feel Clara pulling back at his words.

"How about this, I'll ask one of the makeup artists to order the food. There is no reason anyone would spy on them. Then I'll ask security to thoroughly inspect the trays and bring them to us. Would that make you feel better?"

Clara hesitantly nodded, still anxious but trying to remember what Jungkook had told her about trusting her own assessment of the risk of the situation.

"I would like to have lunch together. I've missed you, and I want to spend some time with just the two of us. Does that work?"

Clara nodded yes, still a bit hesitant.

"Also," Taehyung continued, "Dr. Park told me in no uncertain terms that you needed to eat a good lunch and threatened to send Namjoon after us if you didn't. I don't know about you but I'd rather not get in trouble with Namjoon Hyung today."

Clara broke into a small smile. "Ok, let's give Namjoon a break from worrying at least for a little bit."

Taehyung broke into a huge smile. "Thank you Clara. I'll call a manager and tell them what to order from us and then I'll be right back."

Taehyung hoped he might encourage Clara to sit on his lap while they ate. He loved the idea of keeping her close and selecting each perfect bite to feed her by hand, making sure she was nourished both by the food and his love. Unfortunately Clara politely declined every overture to join him on his chair.

Taehyung could have been disappointed but instead focused on how glad he was that she was both willing to eat and be in the same room as him. That felt like a major step forward from where they had been. He found he was still able to offer her bites of their shared meals even though he had to reach across the table to get to her. As an added benefit he was reminded there was a special joy in being able to look at her, admiring her gentleness and beauty.

It felt far too soon when the manager knocked on the door letting Taehyung know that he only had about 30 minutes before he'd need to leave for the venue.

Clara let Taehyung know that she'd spend the night in her parents room, passing it off as a factor of his likely late return, although Taehyung was nearly certain her lingering anxiety played an even bigger role. He didn't want to press so he just offered her a kiss on the temple and intertwined fingers as he walked her back down the hall to her parents room.

Clara's father greeted them with a smile, taking the opportunity to confirm with Taehyung that he was feeling better after his rough morning. After exchanging pleasantries, Taehyung slipped into the space to say hello to the twins who were chewing on toys while sitting next to each other on a blanket.

"Hey big guys, daddy has to go to work but I'll leave mama here with you. Make sure you treat her well. It's been a rough few days but I know you can make her happy again."

He kissed both on top of their large mops of hair, and when he finally couldn't wait any longer he headed toward their door. Pulling Clara's father aside he had two requests before he felt he could leave.

"Mr. Kim, I know I made a mess of our plans this morning, but would you be generous enough to let us try again to have this discussion tomorrow? Clara already agreed and I'll ask Namjoon to come too since I think it might help to have his perspective."

"Of course Taehyung-ah. Should I view it as a good sign that you spent some time together today?"

"I hope so," Taehyung breathed out. "If anything else it reminded me how happy I am to be a team." Taehyung paused for a moment to reflect on their time together.

"Oh, Mr. Kim, can you also please make sure Clara has dinner? I want to make sure she and the baby are staying healthy and strong." Taehyung shared with Mr. Kim his approach for ordering room service earlier in the day which Clara seemed to accept, hoping he might get her to eat dinner using the same approach. As always at least one member of the security detail would be left behind to keep an eye on the floor and watch over Clara, her parents, and the boys while they were performing their show.

Mr. Kim eventually had to nearly push Taehyung out the door, recognizing he wasn't likely to leave Clara and the twins willingly after everything that had happened. But as always, life on the road was always pushing forward and it was time for Taehyung to go and do his part.