Blood Tie

Chapter 26

Rox's POV

Jimin's quick escape from us left the others watching after him in question as I wondered to myself the trouble he could get us into. I flicked my attention back to Jungkook as Changkyun moved suffocatingly closer to me. I tried to move away from him without being too obvious as to not hurt his feelings and Jungkook appeared to being diligently ignoring me. I felt a pang in my chest from this and the pain must have shown on my face as Changkyun bumped my shoulder with his.

"Hey Rox, you okay?" I forced a smiled at him but it didn't reach my eyes and I could feel Jungkook's attention on my face. I spoke quietly to him, not wanting attention drawn to myself.

"I'm fine," I glanced cautiously at Jungkook who met my eyes this time. He tilted his head slightly and looked at me with an unreadable expression. Before I knew it I felt tears gathering in my eyes and before I could look away Jungkook saw. Before anything more could be said I briskly stood up and cleared my throat.

"I think I'll be going back to my room now, I'll see you guys later." I turned and started walking back to the academy without waiting for a reply. I walked briskly, not wanting anyone to see the tears that were so dangerously close to falling. I don't even know why I was so close to crying, only that I was overwhelmed. I heard panting behind me just before a hand grabbed my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. The hand tugged on my shoulder with enough force to turn me around and face the owner.

Jungkook stared into my eyes as Yoongi, Changkyun and the girls were slowly approaching behind him. He lifted his hand and gently touched my cheek, wiping away a tear that had escaped. He looked at the tear and appeared to swallow roughly before meeting my eyes again, the question clear in his eyes.

"Rox, what's wrong, why are you crying?" I searched his eyes but only found concern in their depths.

"I'm fine, just uh tired, it's been a busy morning." I could tell he didn't believe my explanation but he didn't push it.

"Let me take you back." Before I could protest he enveloped my hand in his and began walking towards my dormitory. I swallowed and allowed his big hand to hold my much smaller one as he tugged me along. I glanced behind me to see Kai and Rowan stopping Yoongi and Changkyun from following with a hand on their arms. Yoongi looked at me with an expression of suppressed longing while Changkyun watched me with jealousy flickering in his eyes.

I looked away quickly, not sure about how to feel about their expressions. I watched the back of the boy in front of me, sighing at what transpired between us in such a short amount of time. I tried not to focus on the fluttering feeling in my stomach at the way his hand curled around mine. He didn't feel like how I felt, I was just setting myself up for heartbreak. I've never really liked someone before so feeling like this was strange, why couldn't I feel the same way that he did. Why couldn't I just see him as a friend?

Jungkook's POV

Her hand was soft and small in mine, so delicate was the girl I pulled along behind me. I could hear her sniffling as we walked but didn't push her, I could see in her eyes that she would pull away if I tried. My mind swirled around the events that happened this morning, from emerging to having Rox in my arms and then seeing Changkyun so close to her. My hand unintentionally tightened around her small one when I thought of him. The thought of him makes my insides boil after knowing the truth. After he kissed her I couldn't think straight and now she has accepted him as her friend. He didn't deserve the breath that escaped her lips but she is letting him in her life again. I felt a rage simmer inside me at the memory of how close he sat to her right after I held her in my arms and felt her against me. I felt...territorial, my forehead creased as I realized the emotion that filled me from the moment he appeared.

Why was I territorial over her when we were friends? I felt an unfamiliar ache in my chest at the idea of calling her my friend. I know friends don't do what me and Rox did but I told myself it was just my hormones controlling me. I'm a teenage boy and can only handle so much, it wasn't that it was Rox, it was just hormones. If it was just hormones though, why did my heartbeat so heavily when I was near her?

I felt my heart thundering in my chest as I glanced back at her. Her dark hair flowing in waves around her while she kept her gaze focused on the ground. Her eyes shined with a luminosity from her unshed tears while the ones that escaped shown like diamonds on her rosy cheeks. Her full lips were trembling and she bit down on her bottom one lightly to stop it. I flushed at her action, immediately remembering her biting my lip. Unknowingly my other hand crept up to my lip and touched it softly as I watched her, her nose turning a light red from sniffling.

I looked away from her and tried to focus on anything else, then I remembered the girl I saw. Her curly light blonde hair and her smug look gracing her face from noticing my attention. She was beautiful but nothing compared to the girl behind me, I remembered her smirk and the sharp intake of breath I heard from Rox when she noticed me noticing the other girl.

We arrived at Rox's dormitory and I stopped in front of it, staring up at her floor as I felt Rox bump softly into my back. I let go of her hand with a difficulty that confused me and looked at her only to see she was still focusing on the ground and appearing to fight back more tears. I reached out and grabbed her chin between my forefinger and thumb lightly, tipping her head up to look at me. She looked at me with sad eyes and I smiled softly at her and tipped my head towards her dorm.

"We're here Rox." She looked at me, appearing to struggle with a decision in her eyes before she spoke softly and tentatively.

"Take me up to my room?" I gulped at the thought and started to get nervous but couldn't refuse her as she looked at me with her sad eyes. I nodded briskly and took her hand again, as if it was instinct and began to make my way inside with her in tow. She followed behind me quickly as we made our way up the steps to the landing of her floor. She opened the door to her hall as I made no move to and grasping onto my hand tightly, she pulled me with her into the hall. She made her way to her door and stood in front of it briefly, finally opening it with a trembling lip and pulling me into her room with her.