Beyond The Stage

Puppy Dog Eyes

Alexis's POV

"There's the five of us." I say, showing them a family picture I have saved on my phone. I pass it to Jungkook so they can all see it. They've already seen my mom on video call, but I'm happy to show them the other people I love.

"You look a lot like your dad." Yoongi comments. I nod in agreement. I take after him in almost everything, with tan skin and hair than my mom, and rounder features. My brothers are the opposite, they both take after mom more than dad with their lighter complexion and straight hair.

I watch them zoom in on the picture, moving to each family member with curiosity. It makes my heart soar that they are interested in learning about my family. They are so affectionate towards me and I genuinely reciprocate it as much as I can.

"Do you have photos of your family?" I ask them.

"Oh, I have a whole album in my room! Would you like to see it?" Taehyung beams.

"Absolutely," I nod my head.

"Come on," he grabs my hand and walks me to the living room, sitting me down in the middle of the couch. "I'll go get it, Namjoon do you want me to get yours too?" He says excitedly.

"Sure," Namjoon says as he sits down next to me. Yoongi sits in one of the chairs and Jimin takes the seat on the other side of me. Jungkook sits on the end of the couch next to Jimin, and Jin and Hoseok are nowhere to be found. Tae comes back first with two albums, one bigger than the other.

Without any hesitation, he sits himself on the floor in between my legs. He hands Namjoon the smaller album and opens the bigger one in front of him. He shows me every picture in the album and narrates the story behind each one. I can't help but smile at his enthusiasm. I ask questions and make comments as I get engrossed. The other members smile and look along with me even though they've already seen the same pictures and heard the stories.

When Jin and Hobi come into the living room halfway through the album, I almost don't notice. Hobi winks at me when we make eye contact and I know something happened. I look over to the dining room and see why they've been gone so long. The table is cleared and the food is put away. I turn to see Jin smirking. I've been bamboozled. With nothing more than a huff, I shake my head and tune back into Tae's story. They know I wouldn't interrupt him talking about his family. I'm too invested anyways.

Once we go through his pictures, some of the other members show me theirs and tell stories. It's basically a continuation of the conversation in the dining room. Hours pass by so quickly but it feels like none have passed at all. Without even realizing it, I'm leaning on Namjoon's shoulder as they've started telling dorm stories.

"I was so pissed off when Namjoon woke us all up to start hunting for mosquitoes." Yoongi reminisces.

"Were they really that bad?" I question. This causes a chorus of groans.

"They were everywhere. There was blood coating the walls from all the mosquito murder." Hobi chimes in.

"Half of it was probably ours anyway." Jin adds. I start laughing at their reactions.

Tae turns his head, which is laying on my thigh, to look at Jimin. "Remember when you and I would play video games on our phones and Jin would always yell at us?" His box smile comes out full force. Jimin slouches over laughing, letting go of my hand to bring his up to his face.

Jin gasps offended, "Hey! That's because you always had the speaker all the way up!" I'm full on laughing now.

Jungkook begins to speak but starts laughing before he even says anything. "Remember when... when Hobi threw that banana at me." He is whole-heartedly laughing by the end of the sentence.

I turn to Hoseok, "you threw a banana?" I ask, more curious than judgmental.

"It was crazy. I was already angry and hungry, and Jungkook wanted to keep it as a memento." He shares as if it would explain anything. He chuckles seeing my confusion and continues, "It was the first gift he ever received from a fan, so he wanted to keep it. It was in the kitchen, so I ate it and he yelled at me for eating it. I ended up spitting it out and threw the rest of the banana at him." A chorus of laughter rings out at the memory. The whole atmosphere is so light-hearted. I feel comfortable being here.

"I really missed you guys." I say honestly. I know we saw each other every day almost all the time during tour and at work, but it was purely professional. Sitting with them and just talking as soulmates, instead of coworkers, feels amazing. They all look at me fondly.

Jimin squeezes my hand, directing my attention to him. "We've missed you too." He grins.

"If the constant calling and waking you up didn't say so." Namjoon chuckles.

I giggle, "It didn't bother me, I loved it." This bond must have me going insane over these men and everything about them. But damn if I'm not Harley Quinn.

Yoongi breaks the silence by calling me, "Hey Ali?"

I break out of my trance and respond with a hum. "Remember what we talked about after the interview in California?" He questions.

I think back to the talk we had about our relationship, becoming more serious. I nod my head.

"We all talked about it and made a decision." He explains. I listen intently. Big changes are going to happen either way, depending on what they chose. "We decided to make a statement, just within the company. At the end of the week. I just want to make sure you're still okay with that."

I knew we needed to make a decision soon, but the date makes it more real. This time Hobi speaks to me, "In Chile, hell, as soon as we stepped foot on that plane we missed you. Even just those two days after the tour when we got back we really missed you too... I missed you. It's not good for your health, and we don't want anything to happen to you, or any of us. We don't want to have to miss you ever again." He kneels in front of me and stares straight into my eyes with sincerity.

I gently cup his cheek and look around to the other members. "It's necessary, for all of us. Thank you for asking me." With that, the decision is finalized. "Plus, it would be nice not to act like strangers anymore."

"Trust me, these two would've given it away anyways with their puppy dog eyes." Jimin gestures to Taehyung and Jungkook.

"No I wouldn't!"

"I would have."

~~~~~

Hey😅😅... How you guys doin?

Okay, but seriously what's uuuupppppp? I spent hours yesterday rereading the chapters and writing new notes because I lost the old ones. It's okay though because it was super fun rereading my book.

I'm not going to lie and say I've been busy 24/7 for the past... 7 months? Damn. I haven't had all the time in the world, but there were plenty of times I was lazing around.

I would see comments show up on my notifications, new followers and messages, and I would feel guilty and ignore them because I didnt have any excuses. But I remembered the rule I made for myself when I started this. Yes, seven months is a hell of a long time. I'll admit that's a bit overboard. But I have never thought to quit this book, never even considered it. I'm growing up, BTS is growing up, you guys are growing up, and this fanfiction is a way to remember the good times. I write this for enjoyment, and I don't plan on changing that. I don't know when the next update will be out, because I haven't started it, but I am still writing. I hope you guys won't be mad at my honesty. I hope this fanfiction will continue to make you all happy.

So that said, Welcome new friends and old friends! To Beyond the Stage!