OUTLAW || ATEEZ x Reader

48

With the hotel currently closed due to your father and family being gone for a bit, you all waited with anticipation in the saloon. Your family had returned the following day, coming back to the hotel having gone through some things. The workers your parents had–aside from your family–had explained that while your mother was gone, there had been a small mob coming in to find answers over your father.

They did keep the public from coming in, shouting and saying that they were fighting to keep the hotel from going up in flames from angry citizens. Your mother had praised them, even the boys, telling them that nothing going on had to do with the hotel. They were loyal workers, all of which knew that your family had nothing to do with the heist.

And so, all of you–workers included–were waiting patiently in the saloon for your father to enter. And when the man walked in, you heard your mother cry, rushing forward to fall into the arms of her husband.

"Dad!" Your siblings shouted, rushing forward.

"Oh, I'm so happy you're okay!" Your mother cried. "Did they treat you right?" She pulled back, pushing his face around checking for injuries.

"I wasn't there for long." Your father smiled softly.

You watched him look over your siblings' heads, catching sight of you and the boys. "Thank you for taking me out of there." He told them.

"Of course." Hongjoong bowed his head. "You're (Y/N)'s family. You're one of us now." He told them.

You watched as your father gave your mother a look for a moment before turning back to you. "May we speak with (Y/N) alone?" He asked them.

"No need to ask." Seonghwa said, moving all the boys along.

"We'll be outside." Yeosang whispered to you as he passed by. He draped his arm around your waist for a moment, dragging it along.

The hotel workers all gave you dad their greetings, pat on the back and walked out to give your family the time alone. Even your siblings took the time to walk out as well, your sister picking up your youngest brother and giving you a reassuring smile.

You turned to your father, eyebrows raising when you saw tears pulling in his eyes. His arm was wrapped around your mother's shoulder, pulling her closer to him as he tried to calm down.

"Thank you. So much." He cried, reaching out for you. "I'm so sorry for what I've done to you." He sniffled, rubbing you back. "You are my daughter and I shouldn't believe what others say. You're the oldest and an adult now, it was something I didn't remember." He wiped at his tears, pulling back to look at you.

"I'll always be your little girl, dad." You sniffled, giving him a tight hug before pulling back to look at him.

"I know you will be." You dad nodded to himself. "But now it's time for me to let you go." He sighed deeply, looking at you.

"I will be honest and say I was expecting you to stay at home way into your 20s still working at the hotel but that wasn't the right thing." He expressed. "I know you. I know you have so much potential to be a great person. Be someone you want to be. I can't stand in that way."

You quickly went to hug him again, sniffling as tears fell from your eyes. There were a lot of things you thought about over the years about moving on with your life and leaving the family. You hadn't really thought about how or when, but you did think about it. You would never imagine how tough things actually were for parents when they would watch their children leave and grow up.

But you had finally found where you were meant to go and you couldn't be happier to hear that your parents were going to support you even after such hardships. Nobody was perfect, there were going to be mistakes made along the way. Especially for parents.

"I know who I want to be now." You told him. "I'm ready to start the journey to get there."

"With those boys?" Your dad asked softly.

You paused for a moment, sighing to yourself. A smile overtook your face thinking about the 8 boys who were waiting for you on the other side of the wall. There was no moment you would have thought 8 men who were seen as wanted criminals would be the ones who pushed you towards where you were meant to be going.

"I'm married to one of them." You told him. "I go where he goes."

"They're a rowdy bunch I give you that." You dad laughed. "But they keep you safe. I know they do. And if not it'll be the other way around." He joked, poking fun at you.

"They'll take care of you like one of their own." Your mother told you, moving to hold onto your hands.

It was the first thing you had taken notice of when you met. Something you could only ever dream of having with other people who weren't your family. And now you were there standing in the middle of all of them, a part of their tight knit group. Your dreams had come true, with even more.

"They're my family now." You told her.

"Then they are welcome here anytime they want. Rooms will always be available." Your dad laughed.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate it." You beamed at your parents.

"Dad!" Your little brother burst into the saloon. "Come look at Jongho rip open fruits! It's so cool!" He gushed, turning around just in case he was missing something. As he turned to walk back to the others you heard him call out to your other brother. "Can you do that?" He asked.

Your dad quickly followed after your brother, laughing as he tickled your brother. You and your mother followed behind them, going into the other room where all the boys were having a great time laughing with your siblings and the hotel workers.

You had a bright smile on your face watching them all get along, your father joining in. Your mother was watching you look at all of them, laughing brightly when any of the 8 boys turned to look at you.

"You've grown so much in these last few months." Your mother told you.

You turned to her, looking confused at her words. "I don't think I've changed that much." You answered.

"Maybe you haven't noticed it but we sure have." She continued turning back to the group. "And those boys are the reason." She smiled softly. "Your father is a bit dense but that's because he's a man. I can see the way they all look at you."

"I can also see they don't hold any negative feelings towards each other about it. They all care for you, and as your mother, I'm glad you have people like them to take care of you." She squeezed your arm for a moment, showing her support.

Knowing they shared and cared for you all the same, the idea of one of them being jealous never really crossed your mind. They truly never really gave you a reason to think that. They didn't act that way nor even show anything. There might be light fights over attention but you figured that was how it was going to be with the kind of personalities each one had.

They knew what they were getting into before even meeting you. You didn't know if they had gone through it before but it was for sure something they had talked about often. You smiled when you caught Jongho's eyes, grin stretching across your face.

"Things have changed a lot for me. But I'm glad it was because of them."