Head above the water

7

(Meme of the chapter is me when I reread what I've written)

"What happened?" Taehyung panted as he approached us.

"The house was broken into. She ran down the street to my house and I helped her call the police," I explained to him, suddenly aware that I was in nothing but a huge shirt and fuzzy socks.

"Thank you," He said to me, and then he walked a few steps to greet the girl.

She fell into his arms and cried into his shoulder like a younger sister would treat her older brother, and I smiled at the sweetness of it. She still had my blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and he tightened it so she wouldn't shiver anymore. He treated her as if she had been born to the same family, and it was nice to see a guy that wasn't afraid to show emotion in public.

Taehyung had always been one of the more vocal members of his posse. He was always finding inventive new ways to get yelled at by teachers, but he never did anything that could actually warrant any type of punishment. Once, he used the word bungalow instead of saying house for nearly four months. It eventually drove the teacher so crazy that she asked if he could be transferred to another class. Of course, he wasn't transferred, but the class did have a fun inside joke for the rest of that semester.

The usually smiley boy was serious now, though. He wiped a tear from the young girls cheek and ruffled her hair, obviously trying to take her mind off of what had happened. As I observed them I slowly began to realize how cold it actually was outside, and I started to wish that the police would hurry up and take my statement so that I could go inside to my warm couch and a cup of hot chocolate.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind that a police officer approached me.

"Okay, so we heard what happened from her, but we have to get a report from you too," he told me.

I knew they'd need a report, so I shrugged and told him what had happened. He nodded and wrote the whole time I was talking, but I felt like he didn't actually listen to the words I was saying. It didn't matter, though. I wasn't listening to him either. I was more focused on the young girl staring at her own home with dread.

After the officer walked away I found myself approaching the girl and Taehyung instead of going back into my house.

"I'm Anastasia, by the way. My friends just call me Stasia, though" I said, holding my hand out for her to shake.

"I'm Jennie," she shook my hand and nodded slightly.

"So, I was wondering if you guys would want to hang out at my house with me for a while? At least, until your dad gets home. I'm kind of terrified of being alone now that this has happened," I asked, trying to make her feel better about not wanting to be by herself.

"I think that's a great idea," Taehyung responded for her and gave me a knowing sort of smile.

"That would be fun!" She agreed.

I nodded and led the way to my house, walking through the door and into the kitchen to start the hot chocolate that I wanted so badly. Putting the pot of milk on the stove, I turned on the eye and walked back into the living room where the others were sat.

"Tae, can you watch the pot on the stove for a minute? I'll be right back." I asked, hoping to have a chance to go slip on a pair of pants so that I wouldn't feel so underdressed.

"Oh, uh, sure." He agreed, seemingly startled by my use of a nickname.

"Thanks a million," I called as I began to climb the stairs to my room for the second time that day.

Closing the door, I latched onto the first denim that I saw, which happened to be my favorite pair of ripped light wash skinnies. I heard a shout from the kitchen and hurriedly made my way down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about. I entered the room to find Taehyung bent over cupping his hand in pain as Jennie mixed the powder into the hot milk and laughed.

"What happened?" I asked, scaring Tae and prompting Jennie to laugh harder.

"He grabbed the pot with his bare hands because he doesn't know how to think ahead," Jennie explained while Tae continued to be melodramatic.

"Thank you, Jennie. Let me see your hand, Tae," I instructed him.

He held his hand out to me, and I laughed at the size of the minuscule burn. Bidding him to stay where Jennie could watch him, I quickly walked to the back porch and broke off a piece of an aloe Vera plant we kept around for this exact reason. Re-entering the kitchen, I squeezed the aloe onto his burn and giggled at his immediate relief.

Leaving Taehyung, I walked over to Jennie and took the spoon and powder from her.

"You go ahead and take the baby to the living room. I'll finish with this," I giggled.

"Aye aye, captain," she said and saluted me.

They made their way back to the couch as I poured three mugs of chocolaty goodness. I carried their drinks to them and then returned for my own. I smiled to myself as I remembered my dad making me hot chocolate every time I got sad when I was younger. I smiled a watery type of smile, but then I pulled my thoughts back together and went to sit on the sofa with the other two.

"So, what type of movie do you want to watch?" I asked, setting my cup on the coffee table.

"How about an American classic," Jennie suggested, "I doubt Tae has seen many of those even if he has been living here for years."

"The Sandlot it is, then," I shouted in excitement, and jumped up to put the movie on.

After the movie ended, we all decided it was getting late. Tae collected a sleeping Jennie in his arms and walked to the door to leave.

"You guys be careful," I told him, opening the door so that he could go out.

"Thank you, for taking care of her," he said sincerely.

It was strange to see Taehyung so serious. He was always smiling or laughing or causing some type of trouble. I could tell he thought of the girl as his own family, and I was happy that if his group didn't associate with people at school they at least had strong connections elsewhere. I nodded as a response and stood on my front steps watching them until they got to her house and a tall and serious looking man answered the door and ushered them in.

I walked back into the living room and gathered the mugs that we had used earlier. After washing them in the kitchen sink and putting them in their proper places I checked the time. It was already past 11, and I was almost certain that my mom wouldn't be home until one or two in the morning, like always.

Sighing, I trudged back up the stairs and got myself ready for bed. As I began to drift to sleep I found myself wondering what tomorrow would be like.

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Hey guys! 👋. Sorry it's been so long since my last update! I've been super busy with work and school and just life in general, and I haven't had any time left over to write at all. I made this chapter a bit longer in hopes that it could make up for that.

In other new... HOPE WORLD IS SO GOOD ASDFGHJKLHSHSK!!!!!!! I love all of the songs, but Hangsang and Base Line have been stuck in my head. The two MV's that have been released are honestly beautiful, and I can't wait for something else to happen. Our smol bean Hobi is out there breaking records and it makes me so proud to say that I'm a fan of BTS.

Okay... end of my long annoying a/n.

Love Ya Always,
-Haleigh