Unfamiliars - themarmalade(AO3)

Chapter 8 - last chapter

*This is not my story but from @ themarmalade on AO3*

-*-

Just as he had slipped into the limbo of half-sleep, a familiar, almost nostalgic sound jerks him back to the dark apartment. There it is again, the shivering inhale before Hoseok coughs out a sob, only no sob follows. Nothing but little tremors through the mattress as Hoseok suppresses his tears.

It's been about a month since of living together, learning to be normal as a pair of humans. It's been good, comfortable, but a puddle of worry has remained in Yoongi's mind, not believing for a second that Hoseok's sadness had magically healed. Love isn't comfortable, and so, Yoongi has remained uneasy.

Another hiccuping breath. Yoongi opens his eyes to see Hoseok turned away from him, shoulders shaking under the blanket. He rolls on his side and pulls himself around Hoseok, burying his nose in between his shoulder blades.

"Hoseok, what's wrong?"

Hoseok goes still. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"Why were you trying not to?" he shoots back, kissing the ridge of Hoseok's shoulder blade.

"Because," Hoseok chokes out. Nothing more to defend himself with.

"You know I love you," Yoongi offers, a whisper into the dark that fills the room.

A sniffle and pause before Hoseok twists around to face Yoongi. He's still as Yoongi wipes the tears off his face, smooths his bangs off his face before pressing a firm kiss to his forehead.

The tears flow fresh again. "What's wrong?" Yoongi asks again, big warm hand sliding across his jaw, thumb brushing tears away before they can trickle across his nose.

"I told my parents about you yesterday."

"Oh," Yoongi breathes. Apprehension builds. Is this the end of it? Did telling them knock Hoseok to his senses? It was only a matter of time, he thinks, bracing himself against the sadness. "And they were upset?"

Trying to choke back a sob just seems to make them all tumble out. "No," he whimpers, voice breaking. "They were happy for me. They just said, 'that's great Hoseokie. Whatever makes you happy.' They didn't even, even-"

It wrenches Yoongi's heart to see Hoseok cry like this again, the way the tears wrack his thin body.

"Shh, hey, you're okay. I'm here, I'm here," he whispers into Hoseok's hair, pulling him in tight. "I love you. I'm here. All those times before, this is all I wanted to do, you know? So bad, I wanted to hold you and tell you I love you, that you're not alone, that you're wonderful."

Hoseok let himself be rocked in Yoongi's tight hold, loud, honest cries muffled in Yoongi's neck. "They weren't even upset. They didn't even care, they just... gave up on me. Which is what I wanted, right? To live without all that pressure?" Hoseok sits up and feels around for the tissue box to blow his stuffed up nose.

Yoongi sits in front of him, raking his fingers through Hoseok's hair to keep it from sticking to his wet face. It's soothing, and Hoseok manages to pull in a deep breath.

"I'm free, right? But everything just seems wide open, like the floor opened up under me. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. And- and it's fucked up but it was easier when it seemed like I had these obligations keeping me down. At least it gave me a path to follow, I guess? At least someone cared, even if they had a shitty way of showing it. "

"It's not fucked up," Yoongi murmurs, firm kisses across Hoseok's forehead.

"It was the same with Sunny," he says quietly. It's the first time Yoongi's heard his ex-fiance's name. "She wasn't even mad at me, in the end. She just... didn't care anymore. She said, 'we'd never be happy anyway, because you don't want to be happy.'"