Muse 📸 // Reader x Kim Taehyung (EDITING)

17) Hold On

You continued on your escapade with Taehyung, just talking and laughing while occasionally stopping to take a picture when an idea popped into his head. You were happy with the shots he was getting, your comfortable mood being reflected through them. You had been out with him for hours now, but it felt like mere minutes. Once again, everything just seemed to fall into place when you were with him. The sun starting to set, you knew that everything was just-

"Can you go sit out in the road over there? It doesn't look like any cars will be coming for awhile now?"

Wrong. Everything was wrong. How dare he think that you could do that? You avoided roads like they were the plague, every time you were around a car you felt on edge. It was your one weakness, the one thing you feared admitting. There was a reason you didn't take the bus to school and rarely did anything that required you to travel. You were sheltered. Everything you did in life seemingly revolved around this fear, even if you refused to admit it to yourself.

You looked up at him and noticed his expression change as he realized your sudden change of mood.  Breathing hitching, eyes widening... you had started to panic. 

"Taehyung... I-I can't... I'm sorry.  I just can't... I was trying not to be a brat today and just let you be creative, but... but I just can't... I'm sorry," you stammered, continuing to sputter our words, voice trembling. You were now shaking from the anxiety caused by the mere thought of his request. You looked down at the ground, unable to hone in control over your emotions. He managed to find the only thing that caused you to crack, and crack you did.

You soon felt a hand wrapping comfortably around the back of your arm, another placed gently below your chin, lifting it so you could look him in the eye. He managed to keep your eyes from shifting around uncontrollably as he entranced you in his gaze. Somehow, his eyes felt safe. Things had begun to feel right again.

"Shh... I'm not mad at all. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. And I wouldn't want you to either. Just breathe, okay?  You've now got me worrying about you," he reassured you, his last comment eliciting a slight laugh from your lips. He started guiding you with his hand to a bench nearby. "Let's sit. Just take a moment to breathe."

You both sat on the bench, his knees turned from his seat to touch yours. Despite all your fighting against it, your hands were still shaking. He cocked his head over toward you.

"Can I?" He began, looking first down to your hands and back up to you. You took the hint, nodding at him to insinuate that whatever he was planning was okay.

His fingertips brushed against yours and you submitted to it, allowing his fingers to interlock with yours, pulling them down to rest on your thigh. You soon felt your shaking calm, feeling at ease.

You sighed, lifting your head to look at him. He looked down at you.  You tried to read his eyes and could see the concern in his furrowed brow. He almost looked somewhat emotional, like he was fighting internally for you to be okay. You weren't sure exactly what compelled you to do it, but you felt your body turn and nudge itself into his, your head resting on his shoulder. At this, he removed one of his hands to wrap an arm around your shoulder.

You stayed like that comfortably for a few moments before Taehyung broke the silence.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I'm here if you need to," he offered. For once you thought that maybe it was safe, maybe it was okay to admit that you weren't okay. That there were surely parts of you that you didn't like to see, that you hid even from yourself.

"I don't know why... I don't know how to explain it." Your voice was soft. "But if.. it feels like if I get in a car or set foot on the road that... that maybe it's like true?  You know, that my life is a sob story... that-that my parents died before I even got a chance to know them... all because of a stupid d-drunk driver and an anniversary dinner and a p-pitiful coincidence.. one snapshot moment... and they're g-gone..." Your voice began cracking at the last sentiment, but you fought back the urge to cry.