"Yoongi, could I have a few minutes alone with Tae?" I asked my best friend once he set down my bag in the doorway of my apartment.

He nodded, a small smile on his lips. "I'll send him up from the car. Just... be patient. While you were in rehab healing yourself, he's been doing some healing as well."

He left, and a few minutes later, Taehyung walked through the doorway, a nervous energy surrounding him.

"Hey. Yoongi said you wanted to talk?"

I released a deep breath and motioned for him to sit on the couch. I sat on the opposite end, enough room for two people in-between us.

"I know I've said it already, but I am so sorry." I leaned forward so my elbows dug into my knees, head in my hands. "It's not an excuse, but I do want to explain."

Taehyung gave me a quiet hum to let me know he was listening.

I sighed, leaning back, eyes gravitating towards a small speck of dust on my coffee table. The coffee table that used to hold remnants of drugs. "For as long as I can remember, I've had a sort of non-chalant attitude. I learned early on that if I pretend not to care, eventually I would stop caring. My parents were drug addicts and ran drug deals out of my childhood home. Even when they weren't high, they were not caring. They told me I was an accident, and I believed it."

A small gust of air from the air conditioning turning on blew away the speck of dust that was keeping my focus.

"I really did think that if I pretended to not care about anything or anyone, that nothing would faze me. I truly thought I was invincible. Growing up, the only real and genuine interactions I would have were with Yoongi. That's how he became my best friend. And until I met you, I thought he was the only one I ever needed in my life. My shitty parents are dead, and I had a best friend. I figured once I got my inheritance then I'd have a great life." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "That all changed when I met you."

I heard Taehyung release a breath, and I saw his fingers wiggling on his thighs as he listened.

"Now I know what it's like to have people care about me for... me. Not just the potential I had to make my parents more money by selling drugs for them at a young age. All this time I used drugs to make it so I felt nothing at all, and when I hit my one year of sobriety, I freaked out. I thought you would abandon me and that Yoongi would just want to mooch the money off of me. I could feel the pain of my intrusive thoughts, and I used the drugs to make the pain go away. It's not an excuse, moreso an explanation. I shouldn't have done it, and I realize how much better it is to truly feel everything I experience in life. Being numbed to it all made me blind and oblivious to everyone else's feelings." My eyes met Taehyung's for the first time since I started speaking.

He let out another deep breath. "I appreciate you sharing all of this, Jungkook."

I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

He readjusted how he sat on the couch, turning so he faced me a bit more. "I won't lie... I'm still terrified. I'm scared of losing you, of you doing drugs again, of you... hurting me."

"And for those things, I am so-"

He held up a hand, closing his eyes as I finished talking.

His hazel eyes met mine, a new softness in them. "I'd also be stupid to not admit how good you make me feel. Jungkook, it's like you are my drug. You give me the same euphoric feeling, but also with the feeling of being loved, which they didn't give me. And those feelings you give me? They don't wear off like the drugs did. While I'm still a little scared of where our future will go, I can't not admit that I am falling so hard for you. It took the last thirty days of healing for me to realize how addicted I am to you, but in the best possible way."

I couldn't help but smile at his words, a light blush tinting my cheeks. "Taehyung?"

He spoke quiet now, almost like a whisper. "Yes, Jungkook?"

"Would you be okay if I kissed you?"

There was a small delay, before Taehyung visibly relaxed. "I can't guarantee I won't have a reaction, as I'm still working through those feelings, but I'd love to try kissing you to see where my progress lies."

"I'm so proud of you, Tae," I whispered, gently cupping his face. He flinched slightly before relaxing. I leaned in, his breath fanning my lips right before we connected.

It was better than I remembered, like we were made for each other all along, but by taking the much-needed time apart for both of us to heal, it's like we were cut from the same cloth. Ripped apart but pieced back together, a single patch sewn over the stitches to create a beautiful quilt. Each patch told a story, but it was all interwoven together to create a single blanket, used for years and generations to come.

I pulled away, watching as Taehyung's eyes gently fluttered open. "How do you feel?"

He smiled, his beautiful box-shaped lips making my heart beat quickly in my chest. "Like I'm whole again."

••••

Thoughts?

Too soon for them to reconnect?

I thought about making it so Tae was still afraid but then I wrote the quilt paragraph and had to go with it LMAO