To Keep Her Warm

Part Four

As the sky faded Taehyung stood and watched as the flames from the fire grew higher and higher. He glanced down at the plastic bag on the ground beside him and sighed.

Why am I doing this? He asked himself as his mind began to crumble, all sense he once had diminished and descended alongside the sky.

Sighing loudly he hunched over and grabbed the bag, he straightened his back and held his head towards the sky with his eyes closed. Taking a deep breath in, he began to hum a familiar tune.

Slowly his eyes reopened to see the moon, now bright and beaming with light, "Clair de Lune, beautiful" he whispered as he fed the flames with the plastic bag. The fire roared and licked at the edges of the bag before devouring it whole. The toxic air began to rise and Taehyung took a step back, once again readjusting his eyes to the now darkened sky.

Exhaling and rubbing his arms for warmth he squinted up at the sky, watching the stars slowly appear as his eyes adjusted. Despite the city lights blaring and the light from the fire, Taehyung could see the faint sparkle of the stars - feeling comforted by their appearance a small smile slowly grew across his frozen lips. The night sky was so clear, no cloud in the sky, only the cool night breeze nipping at Taehyung's exposed skin. He closed his eyes and continued to hum the tune of the night, completely fading from reality and giving in to his dark imagination.

Taehyung slowly opened his eyes and pulled them away from the night sky and folded up his sleeve to reveal his watch, the round face read 11:38PM.

Hours? I've been standing here for hours?

In his confusion he glanced at the fire, which was now embers, even more confused he shot his eyes to the now cloud covered sky. He shook his head in disbelief and pulled out his phone to find a vast array of text messages and missed calls from Namjoon, Yoongi, Jimin, Jungkook, and Hoseok. Sighing, he turned off his phone screen and put it back in his pocket.

Where am I? And how did I even get here?

Taehyung's mind swirled with confused thoughts as he walked along the path, not noticing that he had walked from an industrial area to a seemingly ordinary suburban neighborhood over the course of two hours.

Without thinking, Taehyung stopped and looked back up at the sky. He noticed there was a break in the cloud with the light of the moon breaking through as well as a cluster of stars. Adjusting his eyes to the stars he noticed a line of stars, following them one by one he found himself facing a house - the lights were still on despite it being late at night, the curtains were not drawn and Taehyung peered through the windows from where he stood on the street.

The back of a woman rose from beneath the window, assuming a couch or arm chair were below. Taehyung jumped out of fright and quickly shuffled behind a bush to watch the woman. Her hair was in a messy bun and the way she moved her body seemed as though she was in some sort of distress, she left his view moments before returning. Taehyung moved to get a closer look, noticing how familiar her face looked. The woman rubbed her eyes and adjusted them on the bush Taehyung had hidden himself behind, quickly noticing she was looking for him he dropped to his knees and held onto the bush as an attempt to gain more cover.

The women sighed and grabbed one end of the curtain and brought it to the middle of the window, Taehyung then rose from the bush and locked his eyes onto her, realising who she was. A familiar man entered view and grabbed the woman by the waist before planting a kiss on her cheek, she smiled sleepily and nestled into his neck. Taehyung, almost tripping over his own feet, stepped out from the bush.

"Alli?" he said, almost yelling.

Out of shock, both Alli and the man shot their eyes onto Taehyung. Alli's heart dropped at the sight of him and grabbed onto the mans arm, "Taehyung? What?"

"What the hell is he doing here?" the man said in an annoyed tone, "stay inside, I'll take care of him"

"Taesung, no!" Alli pushed Taesung and ran towards the front door, she gripped the handle hard and pulled the door open, "Taehyu-"

With his name lingering on her breath she froze in the cool night air, he was gone.

Teasung ran to Alli and stood in front of her, guarding her, "Where did he go? I'll kill him if he ever comes back!"

Alli's eyes began to sting as she resigned herself from the front door.

"Alli," Taesung whispered as he closed the door, trying not to make too much noise, "you need to understand that what he's been doing isn't normal, showing up at our home unannounced and trying to hide."

"I know," Alli said as she wiped her eyes, "I'm just upset simply because he's doing this, why does he do this? Why doesn't he just talk to me?"

Taesung sat next to Alli on the couch and pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, "You know he just hasn't been right since the accident."

"But it was a long time ago, surely he would be better by now?"

Taesung shook his head, "Sometimes people change, and just don't change back. It isn't your fault, I know you blame yourself for his actions," he kissed her forehead and rested his head on hers as he lowered his voice, "you can't keep doing that to yourself."

Taesung lightly held Alli's chin, pulling her face to his, "I love you so damn much, and seeing you like this breaks my heart. None of this is your fault."

Alli's expression softened and a small smile rose from the corners of her mouth before her mouth met his with a light peck, "I love you too, Taesung"

Taesung smiled and held her hand, "Now come to bed, you need some rest"