Forever By Your Side

46. I love you too

"I love you, Kim Taehyung. I love you so fucking much. Happy Birthday, love" Jungkook whispered.

He didn't know what else to say. He wasn't the type of person to give long speeches to express how much he loved Taehyung. He put all of his heart in those three magical words.

"I love you too, dummy" Taehyung sobbed and pulled out of the hug to smile at him.

He turned to Namjoon and Yoongi to hug them as well, but froze when he noticed the area. It was at least a couple of miles away from their flat. There was no way Jungkook could have walked that far in three and a half minutes while carrying him.

Jungkook noticed Taehyung's frown and realized what he must have been thinking. Namjoon and Yoongi stepped forward with their hands in their pockets, ready to pull out the sedative if anything went wrong.

"Listen to me, Tae" Jungkook said, once again cupping his cheeks in both of his hands and forcing him to look into his eyes. "You are safe, aren't you?" he asked. Taehyung nodded. 

Jungkook felt his heart shatter as he looked into Taehyung's eyes. He looked soo innocent and vulnerable at that moment. 

Jungkook could see just how much Taehyung trusted him just by a look into his eyes. He swore to himself that he would never ever break that trust even if he had to die.

"Nothing happened to you, right? See? You are perfectly fine, aren't you?" Jungkook asked again. Taehyung nodded again. "You see that? That's how we came here" Jungkook said, pointing to his car that was parked near the tree.

Taehyung gasped as he realized that he was in a car the whole time.

A car....I was in a car.....I was in a car........car.... a car.....van......minivan......I was in a minivan......Jin hyung, Dad and I were in a minivan.......there were two other men with us.......

Jungkook noticed Taehyung's breathe hitch up. "Look, Tae! Nothing happened to you! See for yourself. A car isn't dangerous, okay? Nothing will happen. See, you came in a car just now, and nothing happened, right? Listen to me, Tae....." he said again.

"Everything happened...." Taehyung whispered. "Huh?" Yoongi asked, looking scared. "I-I....I....killed......J-Jin hyung..." he whispered before collapsing into Jungkook's hands.

They gasped at what he said. Namjoon scrambled forward to check Taehyung's pulse. Thankfully, it was normal. 

They sprayed a bit of water on Taehyung's face and waited for him to wake up. They were shocked by what he had said, but they knew that there was no way they could ask him about it. They just took it in and stayed silent.

"You take him back in the bike. Namjoon and I will come back in the car" Yoongi said. 

Yoongi and Jungkook had driven the bike here that morning before waking Taehyung up. Jungkook had come in the car while Yoongi drove the bike. They parked the bike here before going back home in the car.

The second Taehyung went to the washroom to freshen up, Yoongi and Namjoon ran out and brought the car to the front of the apartment. Yoongi sat on the driver's seat while Namjoon sat in the backseat to support Taehyung's legs so that he didn't realize that he was sitting in a car.

The day when Jungkook told them that he wanted to take Taehyung somewhere in a car without him realizing it, they were shocked and terrified about it. 

They had worked so hard to help him come to this position, and they were reluctant to lose that progress. They had taken him in the car only once and that was before they knew about his phobia.

But he got a heart attack that day after sitting in the car and they didn't dare to even think about it again until Jungkook mentioned it. 

They thought about it really hard and realized that Jungkook had a point. If they didn't do this, they wouldn't be making any progress in bringing him out of his trauma.

Instead of simply sedating him and preventing him from getting nightmares, they decided to take actual steps towards getting him out of it. 

This was a huge leap, but they decided to do it. Taehyung needed to understand that sitting in a car wouldn't kill him. But for him to understand that, there should be a proof. They secretly appreciated Jungkook for coming up with the idea.

Taehyung slowly woke up and rubbed his eyes. He looked at Namjoon and Yoongi, who were looking at him with wide eyes. He turned back to look at Jungkook, who squeezed him silently and gave him a small smile and a nod. He turned back to Namjoon and Yoongi.

"I don't want to go back in the car. Please. Don't make me go back in the car" he started sobbing, taking hold of their hands and begging them. Their hearts broke at the sight in front of them. Jungkook moved back to give them some space as Namjoon and Yoongi hugged him.

"Shhh. Jungkook will take you back home in the bike, okay? Shh, relax" Yoongi said, rubbing soothing circles on his back. 

Taehyung sniffled and nodded, looking at Jungkook and gesturing to him to join the hug. Jungkook wrapped his arms around him from behind and snuggled his chin into Taehyung's neck from behind.

"Let's go to a restaurant" Taehyung said. "You sure?" Namjoon asked. "Yeah. It's my birthday, after all" Taehyung pouted. "Haha, okay, don't pout" Yoongi said and gestured to Jungkook to take Taehyung in the bike while he and Namjoon got into the car.