The Art of Revenge

Chapter 10

You were the one to open the door. Stephanie seemed to be the bolder of the two... but not that bold. She stood out of your reach, looking tense in the middle of the porch, while Chris stood a few feet behind her, nearly cowering next to the steps. They knew they shouldn't have been there.

You leaned your shoulder against the frame and crossed your arms over your chest, making it clear that they wouldn't be offered a cool house and a soft seat to sit on after their long journey.

You noticed how both their eyes darted over your body, hyper focused on something below your waist. You looked down and realized that what they were looking at was a smear of paint over your thigh - one that had been smudged into a large handprint.

Jungkook then stepped up behind you, leaning his forearm against the frame, hovering over you like he was showing off the claim he had on you, showing them that you were a united front. Stephanie and Chris's eyes then began to dart over the smudged paint that adorned his neck and his arms. You felt a swell of triumphant satisfaction as you watch them realize that they had interrupted your fuck time.

You all stood in a silent stare down - not a single one of you daring to be the first person to speak. You certainly weren't going to be the one to break the ice. They were the ones who came here uninvited. They were the ones who had a whole lot of explaining to do. The more you stood there, and the more you watched Chris, you realized he wasn't going to speak either. In fact, you were becoming suspicious that making this trip wasn't really something he had been on board with. That thought stung a little. If it was true, that meant he wasn't all that keen to fight for you - or that Stephanie held more influence over him rather than the woman he promised to love and cherish and respect for the rest of his life.

Finally, Stephanie broke the silence.

"Can we come in?" she raised her eyebrow. A short chuckle pulsed in the back of your throat at the way she rounded the question - like you and Jungkook were the ridiculous ones for not having offered already.

"No," Jungkook retorted firmly. "I told you that you weren't welcome here anymore, Steph."

You watched as she took a subtle and seething breath into her shoulders, and noticed the confused way Chris stared at her from behind.

"Can we talk?" she looked over you and sharply up at him. That too caused a swirl of intense emotions to flood through you. Firstly, the sting of realizing how little she had valued your friendship. She didn't even come here to apologize to you - she came here for Jungkook. Secondly, a swell of protectiveness, because she came for him. After everything she did to him, she was really so narcissistic to believe that she could berate him for forgiveness. You weren't even sure if she believed she needed to ask for forgiveness. You were angry at yourself now, you had given her a reason to break the strict boundaries he had put up with her - now you wanted to be sure there were no more breaches in the wall. And finally, the bite of possessiveness. He was yours - at least for right now - and there was no way you were going to allow her to put her hands on any more of your men.

You lifted yourself from the frame and turned slightly towards Jungkook, hooking a hand around his waist and placing the other over his chest as you looked up to him. He dipped his head so his lips would meet yours, and you kissed each other in a quick but deliberate display of intimacy and unity.

"Do you wanna talk to her, baby?" you said to him, making sure it was loud enough for the whole porch to hear. He swung his arm around your shoulders, and pulled you into him, close enough so that he could kiss you just below your ear.

"No," he whispered - also loud enough for everyone to hear. "I wanna go back inside and back to what we were doing."

You giggled as he took a nibble on your ear.