Nada

The Call

Casual. That's what these weekday nights were. Always casual. They all sat in the living room, watching the youngest three play poker. The older adults teasing and mocking them. Y/N was grinning, her calves splayed across Hoseok's lap as she finished her beer. She was forcing herself to forget, forcing herself to not be controlled. She'd had to block repeated profiles but finally, it had stopped. She felt an intense sense of relief. She'd protected herself.

"Hey, Y/N." Jin turned his attention from making fun of Jungkook's losing hand. "I was wondering...I'm throwing a party Saturday night and there are supposed to be a lot of newcomers. Would you mind helping me out with that?" She smirked at him, the teasing Y/N was back in session.

"Why, so you can get into their pants?" He looked affronted.

"Well, of course! But I also want them to feel welcome and settled in. I can't sleep with them all at once." She snorted but nodded. She'd help and then find something else to do. That's what she always did. Preferably not in one of Jin's spare rooms. She'd tried that once and now knew more about Jimin than she'd ever wanted to know. It was an interaction they both stoically refused to talk about.

At that moment her phone rang and she frowned. No one ever called her. She didn't pick up. Everyone knew this. She fumbled, pulling it out of her back pocket and sitting up. The number was unknown. But why did the area code look so familiar? It couldn't be....could it....

The boys had gone silent. Phones went off sometimes but never hers. There was something brief that flashed across her face that they couldn't decipher but she had a smile covering it in an instant.

"I gotta get this." She practically leapt off the couch and out onto the balcony, closing the door behind her.

"I....didn't realize she gets calls." Jimin finally said for all of them, before turning back to the game. Hoseok glanced out the large glass doors but her back was to him so he couldn't see what was going on. She didn't. He couldn't think of one time he'd ever talked to her on the phone. She was very adamant about her hatred of speaking over the phone. If it couldn't be sent through text then she didn't want to hear it. They all knew this and enjoyed teasing her about it. One time Jin had received a call and tried to make her take it, the look of horror on her face still gave them laughs weeks later.

Hoseok mentally shrugged, his tipsy brain rebelling against thinking, and turned back to the game.

-

"Hello." Y/N's hands were shaking and she took a deep breath before answering.

"Ah, Y/N. About time." She held her breath, not wanting its sound to give away her nervousness. How had he gotten her number. "You didn't get my multiple messages through Elaine or our friends or social media in general?"

"I did."

"Well, ignoring me isn't nice." She resisted the urge to say something emotion-filled. That's what he wanted. And she was a different person now. She refused to let him manipulate her. She would not let him own her life.

"I don't want anything to do with you, which I believe I had Elaine communicate."

"You did at one point."

"When I was a stupid girl who believed men when they told her they loved her."

"Look, it was a mistake. I admit it. But I've come to my senses. You were right, you warned me."

"A four year marriage is a bit too long to just call a "mistake"." She finally hissed, her emotions starting to spill through despite her best efforts. "You made your choice."

"Well, I want to make a different choice." She ground her teeth and planted her hand on her hip, her back stiff as a rod. She was actually kind of indignant. How dare he try to hurt another woman like he'd hurt her. She'd never hated his wife. She knew how manipulative he was, how he spun the truth. She knew the woman would never know the full story.

"No."

"Oh come on....you were in love with me...."

"Then doesn't matter, Mordecai. What matters is now and now I don't want you in my life. Go back, make your marriage work, and leave me alone." There was a long pause as her caller realized she wasn't going to be as easily manipulated as he thought. "I can't trust you." She continued. "I don't care how you justify it, we were together and you were pursuing her. There's no point in having people in my life I can't trust."

"You don't need to trust me to have me in your life." She wanted to throw her phone across the balcony in frustration. This fucking bastard. Talking nonsense and still expecting her to buy it?

"Yes, I do. Respect what I said. Don't call again." She moved to hang up but stopped with his next words.

"I know where you live."