Stuck With You [Taekook ff]

49 | Taehyung Hoped So

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The sun had barely begun to peek over the horizon when Taehyung and Jungkook left for the airport and eventually escaped Washington, D.C. in a rush, the weight of their past and an uncertain future heavy on their shoulders.

The city streets were still damp from the night's rain, shimmering beneath the dim streetlights as they maneuvered their way out of the capital's concrete maze.

Neither spoke much as they were on their flight to Las Vegas, their destination, and the city where everything about their love lives had once made a little sense, right before they met each other. Jungkook hadn't been seeing anyone and Taehyung had broken up with Tailor. They didn't have the ideal dating life but at least the lack thereof made sense.

Taehyung kept his eyes on the window, his mind racing far beyond the clouds beneath. His father's words echoed in his mind, a confession that had shattered his understanding of everything he thought he knew. The secret still hung over him, like a storm cloud threatening to burst open at any moment. His dad had planned to wait until the opportune time to reveal it as if knowing Taehyung would one day not only need the truth but may somehow need help. But Taehyung didn't know if he felt comfortable seeking the assistance.

Now wasn't the time to think about that. Taehyung glanced over at Jungkook, who sat silently in the passenger seat, staring out the window as if the answers he sought might somehow appear in the passing scenery. He knew Jungkook's thoughts were on his parents—on the gruesome memory that plagued him every day. The FBI might still call them "missing," but Jungkook had seen their deaths with his own eyes. He had never shared every detail, but Taehyung knew the truth had carved deep scars into his soul.

They had both been living under layers of lies for too long, pretending to function while the weight of these secrets pulled them apart. The flight to Las Vegas felt like an attempt to reclaim something. Perhaps their wedding city would offer them a sense of grounding in this chaotic storm. If lucky, Namjoon wanted them to find out how they made it to the chapel to get married.

"Do you think..." Taehyung interrupted their silence. He paused, unsure of how to finish his sentence. "Do you think going back will help?"

Jungkook tore his eyes from the flight attendant and met Taehyung's gaze briefly before returning to the passing clouds in the window. "I don't know," he replied quietly. "I'm not sure what anything means anymore."

Taehyung clenched the agenda he had brought along a little tighter. Truth be told, he had been wondering the same thing—what did all of this mean? And he worried about where they stood and if they could even survive what they would or would not find in Vegas.

It wasn't just the physical threats or the need to escape; it was emotional. The uncertainties of their relationship gnawed at him more than the secrets their families harbored.

They had been through so much together in such a short time, and yet, there were times when he felt like the distance between them was growing. It started growing the evening before when Taehyung learned that Jungkook wanted a divorce. He wasn't even sure if he did or didn't, but to know that Jungkook still desired a permanent split hurt him.

The weight of everything else caused him to almost crash mentally as he looked down at the list of things he needed to do with notes for each action.

Taehyung began to reminisce on happy times to calm his nerves. He remembered how he had met Jungkook and still felt the same pull towards him. And they finally spent time together, enjoying each other's company. And bodies. After leaving Vegas for the first time, for a little while, it felt like they were untouchable, their bond growing strong enough to withstand anything. But that was before the walls started closing in, before the FBI's involvement with Jungkook's parents' case, and before Taehyung's father had made his cryptic revelation.