The Rules

Chapter 19

It was late when they pulled into the underground parking and headed upstairs to the apartment. She enjoyed going and seeing what the boys do, but being put on the spot to sing in front of them was pretty nerve-wracking and she was tired.

When they opened the apartment door Ami stopped and stared for a second. A flood of emotions rushed over her as she remembered how she felt the day before when she entered the apartment. Jungkook was next to her and noticed she paused, so he took her hand to walk in with her. He was surprised she gripped his hand as hard as she did. He didn't know if anyone else noticed, but he didn't want to call her out in front of everyone. Once they got in the door the lights came on and general chatter of the apartment kicked in, she felt better and let go of his hand. "Thank you" she whispered to him. He just smiled and nodded to her, but as he watched her walk away he had a frown on his face.

Namjoon and Jin were walking behind them and witnessed what happened. They noticed the pause, how hard she gripped his hand, and his look after she walked away. It was fair to say everyone could see something was off with her, but not sure how it needed to be handled.

Ami stopped, "Oh! I forgot I took all my stuff home earlier today, I don't have anything here."

Jimin ran over, picked up a bag, and handed it to her with a smile, "We picked stuff up for you to keep here, you know, that way you don't have to worry if you come by unexpectedly." Ami looked in the bag, "You bought me these things?" She questioned. "Well sure, it's just some basic stuff, is it OK?" he was surprised by her uncertain reply. "It's really nice, thanks Jimin." She smiled a reassuring smile at him, but she felt uncomfortable. "I'm going to go clean up." and with that, she headed to the guest room.

She dumped the bag onto her bed when she got in the room to see what they bought for her. There were a bunch of skincare items, toothbrush, shampoo, and soaps. "This stuff is nicer than anything I have." She murmured to herself. There were also some comfy clothes for her. Shorts, t-shirts, a cute dress, and some other cute things.

She cleaned up and changed into the shorts and shirt, tossed her hair up, and went back out to see what the guys were up to.

Yoongi was at the table with his headphones on, totally involved with his computer. Jin, Hobi, and Namjoon were nowhere to be seen while Jimin, Tae, and Jungkook were piled on the couches watching TV already.

She went to find Namjoon to talk to him, she knocked on his door. "Come in.." he called out. "Hey there, what are you working on?" Ami asked as she came in. "OH, hey! Jimin did a good job picking that out." He smiled at her. "Oh.. thanks.. about that... It's nice you all thought of me...but..." She kind of stammered.

He put down what he was working on and turned to face her, giving her his full attention, which only made her more nervous. She was usually such a secure person, but around him, she felt different.

"Does it feel like we overstepped a line?" He said, cocking his head to the side while he looked at her trying to find the right words.

"I hope you don't think I'm ungrateful. It's not that. I love hanging out with all of you and not for who you are in the world. I hope you don't think that." she said carefully. "I just don't want you guys to think I'm in it for gifts, or looking for anything. I just value your friendship the most. I just might need a second to catch up sometimes."

Namjoon smiled. "Hey, none of us think that. At all. You are the most grateful person we know, and that is one of the reasons why we all love spending time with you. You are kind, sincere, and thoughtful and your heart is always in the right place. You're really smart when it comes to thinking on your feet. You are a strong person, none of us doubt that. You genuinely care about all of us in our own ways. That for us is such a great gift because finding that in a true person is so rare for us in our line of business. I'm sorry if we made you feel that way, I can tell you that was not our intention at all."