You'll Never Walk Alone Again

18. A Birthday Among Friends

~Jimin~

Time seemed to go both fast and slow at the same time. On one hand, Jimin and everyone else in the household knew that any day someone could discover the three youngest members of the household and police could be at their door, waiting to take them back to Jimin's abusive father. Because of that the days crept by agonizingly slow. On the other hand, living with Yoongi, Namjoon, Jin, Hoseok, Jungkook and Taehyung made Jimin feel the safest and happiest he ever remembered feeling. The four hyungs treated their maknaes with a level of kindness, gentleness and respect (despite their constant, playful teasing) that Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung had never experienced before and because of that, Jimin dreaded the approach of his 18th birthday when he, Taehyung and Jungkook would be free and probably expected to move out. That made time seem to fly like the wind. And now here they were. Jimin stared at the ceiling above the bed he shared with his fox and bunny. It was October 13th. His birthday. By the end of the day he would be an adult and no one would be able to make him return to his father.
He worried about Jungkook and Taehyung though. Would Jin really be able to free them? Or would they have to hide for the rest of their lives to avoid Dowoon? As much as Jimin liked Jin, the older man hadn't so much as mentioned freeing the two hybrids since he'd first mentioned it two weeks ago. That made Jimin worry that he'd decided not to help for one reason or another. In the beginning, Jin had simply been out too much for Jimin to ask him about it. He had been coming home from work later and later, appearing exhausted in the mornings as if he'd stayed up even later. Yoongi as well looked tired constantly, much more than when Jimin had first met the mint haired panther hybrid. Over time however, it became apparent that Jin was actively avoiding the issue. Every time Jimin brought it up, something would interrupt him. The young human rolled over and buried his face in the crook of Taehyung's neck. Taehyung sleepily wrapped his arms around Jimin.

"What's wrong??" His voice was still rough with sleep. Jimin just shook his head. A hand petted his back from behind and Jungkook scooted closer to share in the cuddles.

"C'mon, what is it Jiminie? What's bothering you?" He asked sleepily.

"It's just... I'm just worried..."

"About what?" Taehyung asked.

"Well, you two for one... do you think Jin-hyung is actually gonna try to free you? It's like he's been avoiding talking to me about it..." Jungkook hugged him tighter.

"Don't worry about us Jiminie! We'll be ok. I trust Jin-hyung and so dose Tae Tae."

"Mm hm!" Taehyung confirmed with a nod. Then he continued, "besides, it's your birthday today! You shouldn't be worrying. You should try to be happy!" Jimin nodded absently.

"Ok..." Jungkook squinted at him,

"There's something else isn't there??" Jimin sighed. Nothing escaped his Kookie.

"Yeah..."

"What is it?" Taehyung's gentle voice comforted Jimin.

"I just- ugh, I don't want to leave here! I like living with Yoongi and Jin and Namjoon and Hoseok and you two of corse... it's like- ugh I don't know. It's stupid."

"No baby, it's not stupid. I understand how you feel. Jungkook and I understand perfectly. Here feels safe, here we feel like we finally have a real family." All Jimin could do was nod as he looked up at Taehyung. Tears ran down his cheeks, how was he lucky enough to have two people as amazing and special and understanding as Taehyung and Jungkook in his life? He held them closer, determined to never let them go.
~~~
Jimin's mouth hung open as he stood in the doorway to the dining room. A soft warm weight settled on his back as Hoseok ran up behind him.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMINIE!!" Jimin turned to the ginger haired man and stuttered,

"You-you guys! What?!?! You- you shouldn't have!!" Hoseok grinned.

"Sorry." It was clear that he was not sorry.

"Come on! Breakfast!" Yoongi shouted from the kitchen. Namjoon and Jin emerged from their room at that.

"Good morning!" Namjoon announced flamboyantly. Jin laughed.

"Happy birthday Jimin. And yes, we absolutely should have. In fact, we should have gotten you more than we did!" The older man sounded truly happy. Jimin's cheeks turned pink and he groped for a reply.

"Jiminie, you should close your mouth! You look like a fish out of water." Everyone laughed. Trust Jungkook to say something ridiculous.
~~~
Breakfast was delicious as usual. Yoongi was amazing at cooking. Once everyone was done eating, everyone excitedly dragged Jimin to the pile of gifts on the dining room table that Jimin had gaped at earlier. Each person had gotten him something different and special in its own way. Even Jungkook and Taehyung it seemed, were in on it. Finally there was only one more thing left to open and Jin was the only one who hadn't given him a gift yet. The last thing was a large  envelope, about the size of a piece of paper. Jimin smiled at Jin nervously, picking up the envelope. Jin nodded encouragingly. Jimin carefully tore the seal and pulled three pieces of paper out. The first two were forms of some sort. He looked closer and saw that they were adoption forms for adopting hybrids. Jimin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The third paper had a lot of really small writing and then two signatures at the bottom. He looked up at Jin.

"What's this??" He asked quietly, already suspecting the answer but needing to be sure.

"It's Jungkook and Taehyung's finalized emancipation form."

"What?" Jimin asked, still confused.

"It means that they're free from Dowoon. Now all you need to do is fill in the forms. I'll turn them in for you and Jungkook and Taehyung will be legally yours. That's why I've been out so much recently. I had to pull some strings. It wasn't easy but I also have a restraining order set up if you want. All you need to do is sign it and he'll never bother you again." Jimin was speechless. He surged up from his seat and rushed to Jin. Jin stood up, meeting him half way as Jimin crashed into the oldest member of the household.

"Oof" Jin huffed as Jimin squeezed him. "Haha it wasn't only me, Yoongi helped a lot. Also, Jungkook and Taehyung helped me write up complaints based on their experiences. We wanted to keep it as a surprise for you though so it could be your birthday present." Jimin stared around in awe.

"You were all in on this??" They all nodded, even Namjoon and Hoseok. Jimin wordlessly reached out his arms and he was quickly engulfed in a group hug of all his favorite people in the world. Namjoon grinned as they all pulled away.

"One more thing..." Jimin looked at him curiously.

"Oh?"

"Well..." Namjoon laced his fingers together shyly. "Jin and Hoseok and Yoongi and I really enjoy you three living here so uh... well, we thought we'd offer you the chance to be our permanent housemates. And we totally understand if you don't want-" he was cut off mid sentence as all three maknaes tackled him in hugs.

"Yes, hell yes we want to keep living here." Jimin said breathlessly. "We all feel so safe and happy here and we feel like we finally have a real family." Jungkook and Taehyung nodded. Jin smiled.

"Well then, that's settled."

Jimin thought this was the best birthday he had ever had or was ever likely to have.

🌸🌸😊😊 FLUFFSSSS!!
Ack I can't believe it's already almost over! Anyway, as always, questions and comments welcomed!!