Snowflakes & Fireweeds

2. Lean On Me

When Tae returned to the house he had still about four hours before Jimin and Hoseok would come over. He decided to clean up a little and prepare the guest rooms for his friends. After that he checked if his flowers were watered and then he opened his fridge to see if he had anything edible for the weekend. There were only some juices and water left, as well as several vegetables that he had bought on his last trip into town last weekend. Maybe he should text Jimin to get him some stuff at the grocery store before coming over. The only problem was that Jimin wouldn't accept any money from him. Tae scolded himself for being so engulfed in the work on his painting and preparing his plants for the winter that he had forgotten to go grocery shopping. He actually didn't have to leave his house for it, as the nearest grocery store offered online orders and deliveries to your doorstep. However, they only did that during the week and you always had to order at least one day in advance.
Tae sighed and picked up his phone. He had no other choice, so he opened his chat with Jimin, the morning text to Tae still unanswered, and started typing.
"Hi Chim. Could you maybe buy me some groceries before coming over? I had a painting to finish and forgot to order them. I'll give you the money later."
The answer came only about 10 minutes later.
"Taehyungieee ~ of course, anything for you! I'll get you all the good stuff!"

That Jimin had put his focus on the word "all" Taehyung only did realize when he, Jimin and Hoseok had run from the car to the house for the third time to get all the shopping bags and carts inside.
Taehyung shook his head.
"Jimin, was there anything in the store you DIDN'T buy?"
"Well, let me think.... Ah! Tampons and condoms. I thought you wouldn't need them here in the middle of nowhere."
Hoseok chuckled and Tae rolled his eyes as he tried to surpress a smile. It was really hard to do so when his friends were around.
The kitchen was actually the biggest room in the house, but with all the bags and boxes it looked like it was bursting. It took them about half an hour to unpack everything and store it away. Jimin had really gotten him everything - bread, pizza, pasta, rice, different kinds of meat, cheese, all kinds of vegetables and fruits, water, juices, beer and soju, chocolate, chips, ice cream, toiletries, and so on. After unpacking they each grabbed a beer and went to the living room, where they plopped down on the couch, Jimin and Hoseok each on one side of Tae. The couch was facing a wall that was made of glass and gave a view of the garden and the woods. The garden was a combination of a small patio with barely enough space for a table, four chairs and a barbecue. The barbecue had been a present from Jimin and Hoseok, as they had decided that it was impossible to come over during the summer months and not have a barbecue in the evening. Connected to the patio was a little path, made of the same stones as the patio, that led to the woods in the back of the garden. On either side of the path were bushes and plants of all kinds that would bloom in  many different colors once spring returned. Now they were mostly covered in fabrics to protect them from the cold weather.
Jimin immediately cuddled up to Tae after sitting down and Tae let him. He didn't deserve this affection, but Jimin wouldn't have any of it and showered him in hugs and cuddles whenever he was around. Hoseok turned on the small TV in the corner of the room and switched to some random music channel. Then he leaned back and put his arm around Tae's shoulder. They sat like this for several minutes and although Tae would never voice it, he loved these moments where they were just there. He was still sure that he needed the solitude the most, for the sole reason of atoning for his past faults, but these small bubbles of affection were starting to make him wonder whether he could dare to be happy again.
Hoseok snapped him out of his thoughts by opening his beer can and holding it up to clink it together with their cans. Jimin and Taehyung followed suit and they took a sip of their drinks.
"Now," Jimin started, "what have you been doing these past weeks?"
Tae shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing special. Just preparing the house for the winter and finishing some paintings."
"Right, the weather forecast said that a heavy snowstorm was coming next week. Don't you want to return to the city with us on Sunday? You could stay at my house," Jimin continued. Tae shook his head.
"I appreciate your concern, but I will be good here."
"And what if the heating breaks down like it did a year ago? You couldn't even boil some water!"
"This time I'm prepared, Chim. I have some mobile heaters and enough gas bottles to survive for weeks. And I have all the wood in the garage for the fireplace. The only concern I would have had was the food, but thanks to your shopping skills I'm well prepared there as well."
Jimin pouted and crossed his arms. He looked like an angry little chick and Tae couldn't help the smile that spread on his face. When Jimin saw that his pout immediately disappeared and he beamed at Tae. That made him realize what he had just done and the smile vanished as quickly as it had come.
Jimin wanted to say something, but a small shake of Hoseok's head made him stop. They knew that trying to push Tae to smile some more would result in him completely closing them off again. Getting him to forget his self-imposed guilt for only a second or two was already more than they could have imagined in the beginning of the year. Tae was so convinced that his sister's and friend's deaths were his fault that he didn't acknowledge any other opinion.
An awkward silence was threatening to spread among the friends, but Hoseok jumped in by suggesting to prepare some dinner, as it was already nearing 7PM. They took another sip of their beers and shuffled to the kitchen, where they took another ten minutes to decide on a menu.