Starting Over •JJK• ✔️

Thirty Two

The house had an open floor plan, giving me a clear view of the living room from the kitchen. I leaned against the island counter and looked at JK, who was sitting on the couch. I watched his side profile as he focused on his iPad in his lap. He'd spent most of the day writing lyrics and working on song ideas.

I turned to take the kettle off of the burner when it started to whistle. Grabbing two mugs, I prepared us each some hot chocolate to relax with. As predicted, it rained all day yesterday, but we didn't expect it to rain today, too. Not that either of us cared. We didn't have anywhere else to be.

The first three days went by too fast. Today was day four, which meant we only had one more day left after this until we had to head back. It made me a little sad for my own selfish reasons. I knew that we both had a lot to get back to, but part of me wasn't ready to share JK with the rest of the world just yet.

I dropped some mini marshmallows into each mug and brought them into the living room. I moved behind JK's spot on the couch and lowered the steaming mug in front of him. He quickly turned his iPad screen off and I chuckled. "Writing love letters to your other girlfriends?"

"I mean, kind of." He set the tablet aside and took the mug. "ARMY is my other girlfriend, so if writing songs to them count as love letters, then yes."

I put my mug down on the end table. "It absolutely counts." I slid my arms around his shoulders from behind and kissed his cheek. "They were your girlfriend long before I was, and they deserve all of your love letters."

"You have the upper hand, though." He rested his head against mine. "You're the girlfriend who gets to see me naked."

I laughed and stood up straight, ruffling the back of his hair before moving around to sit on the couch next to him, bringing my hot chocolate with me. "That's definitely a perk."

JK pulled the blanket off of the back of the couch and draped it over our laps as I settled beside him, curling my legs up. He got a fire going in the fireplace while I was preparing our drinks, making our evening even more cozy. He sipped his cocoa and looked at me, lightly nudging my shoulder with his. "So, what do you think? Should we come back up here after the tour?"

I smiled. "Can we?"

"I'm sure we could make that happen." He took my hand, looking at my ring. "I love that you still wear this."

"I haven't taken it off since you gave it to me." I laid my head against his arm. "You still wear the little hoop earring I gave you too."

"Of course I do. So you're always with me." He ran his thumb over my knuckles. "I never want to know what it's like to not have you with me."

"Never, huh?" I looked up at him. "Never covers a really, really long span of time." I stopped and thought over my words, wondering if it made sense outside of my head. "Wait, you know what I mean."

JK chuckled. "I know." He squeezed my hand. "And I mean it. You make me so happy, Maddie. I sometimes think about all that you've been through and it breaks my heart to know what you had to endure."

"Don't think about that." I shifted to better look at him. "I know that he is still causing some problems but I also know that I'm safe with you. He can't do all of the things he used to do to me anymore."

"I just want to be good for you." He took our mugs and set them on the table. He turned back and grabbed both of my hands, fully facing me now. "You're amazing in ways that I can't even put into words. I never want you to feel pain like that ever again."

"And I won't. Not as long as I'm with you." I blinked back a tear before it could escape. "You are literally the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. You even told me yourself that all of those terrible things led me to you, so I had to go through it in order to find you."

JK nodded. "I feel so lucky to be the one who can show you what real love feels like. I can't say that I've been in love before like I am with you, but you make it easy for me to try."

"You already do without having to try." I pushed his hair away from his eyes and smoothed my thumb over the small hoop in his ear. "When you told me you love me, everything that led me here made sense. I didn't even consider the thought that we've only been officially together for a couple of weeks because that doesn't matter."

"I hesitated to tell you at first because I didn't know how you would react." He looked down at our hands as he laced our fingers together between us. A faint smile hung on his lips. "But I couldn't stop myself in that moment. You looked so beautiful and it just came out."

I grinned, watching his face as he looked down at our hands. "I'd thought those three words a few times, especially recently, and they almost came out." I tucked his hair behind his ear. "I was nervous, though. Not only did I not want to freak you out, but it honestly scared me a little bit."

"I understand because that's how I felt too." He was fixated on my ring, twisting it back and forth on my finger. "But regardless of how long we've been together, there was no question in my mind that I love you. Not knowing when I'd see you again after you left solidified it for me." He paused with a sigh. I could tell that he was stopping his own tears from falling. "I was lost without you."

I tugged on his hands so he would look at me again. "I love you, Jungkook." I looked him in the eyes when I said his first name. I'd only ever called him Kookie, so for me to say his first name meant I was being serious. "And I never want to know what it's like to not have you with me either."

JK leaned forward to kiss me, pulling his hands from mine to bring them up to my cheeks. His kiss was soft and tender and telling me everything that I already knew.

I couldn't think of anyone else that I'd rather go through all of our ups and downs with, or fall asleep and wake up next to, or just simply sit on this couch and stare into the fireplace in silence for hours with. He is truly my happy place. This man is my best friend.

I couldn't imagine my life without him in it anymore.

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