I'd set an alarm for this day specifically, but I guess nothing could prepare me for this.

As I glanced at the time, I sighed, noticing that there was at least a good hour before the funeral and I knew I should have gotten up, but nothing was pulling me to do so. Instead, I turned around in my bed and closed my eyes, my hand grabbing for the blanket and attempting to pull it over my head.

I say attempting because just as it hovered over my head, I feel it tugged back making me glance up to see the smiling beauty of a mother-like person who crouches down, tightening his grip on the blankets and reaching his free hand over to my head where he patted my hair down gently from its birds nest.

"Jin," I mumble in my sleepy voice, eyes still half open as I stare up at him.

"Come on, Jamie, you need to get ready," he says softly making me frown and shake my head and attempt to turn away, but he stops me. He's dropped the blanket and now has a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently as he says again, "We have to say goodbye, James."

I shake my head, willing myself not to cry as I do so because up until now, I was able to pretend she just wasn't home. I was able to pretend that she was at the hospital and all was fine and each day, my fear of saying goodbye would grow as the date of her funeral got closer and closer. Each day, it was one of the few things that stayed on my mind and if I'm being honest, the only day where I'd actually forgotten all about it was yesterday and exactly the whole day, no, just the parts of the day that was spent with Jungkook.

It was from the time we were on the rooftop until halfway through Civil War when he'd gotten a call from his mother to return home.

In that time, I'd forgotten it was today.

They kept telling me and assuring me that I was ready to deal with it; ready to say goodbye, but I honestly wasn't. That was what I wanted them to think of me as: strong, but who was I kidding? I wasn't strong.

I was anything but strong.

Instead of a reply, I feel something familiar touch my face and I'm about to hit it away when I feel the tickle on the bridge of my nose before I realize that it was my glasses being put on.

My eyes trail from the soft and smooth looking hand, up the arm and stops when I've found myself staring face to face at the culprit who didn't say anything but did give me a boxy smile that made me feel a tad bit better.

When I finally turn myself to an angle, I see them all standing there, surrounding my bed as if it were a casket and I were the one dead.

I sigh; a bad timing for this joke.

"James," I hear Jin whisper again as he seats himself beside me properly and pulls me into a gentle embrace which soon, the other six join in on and I can't help but swallow back a sob, forcing it down past the lump in my throat and blinking back the tears that threaten to spill.

We sit like this for a good ten minutes before they all let go, one by one, and Jin finally manages to pull me out of the bed before they all take turns to exit my room and give me the chance to get done.

And so I do, grabbing the long black dress that seemed casual, but also formal and only having chosen it so I could wear my converse instead of some high heel, pump or sandal.

After changing into the outfit and doing my hair and teeth, I open my bedroom door and walk out, only to have me bump into a hard chest (and I only knew it was chest after the owner's arms wrapped around me to catch me from falling) before I pulled away and looked up to meet Taehyung's small box smile.

"Tae?" I question with a small frown before it disappears as he hugs me quickly.

I'm confused because for as long as I've known Taehyung, we haven't really hugged that much and it's obvious that there's a reason behind this hug; I could feel it through the atmosphere.

When he pulls away, I look up at him with a questioning look to which he simply smiles before replying, "I know it's probably hard for you right now, Jamie. You feel empty right now because you lost someone so important to you who you can never get back this time; someone who loved you for who you were and encouraged you to be yourself all the time. I know the feeling, I was in your position and I just want to let you know that if you feel like you're alone, you aren't because you have us, you have Hoseok's mother next door, you have a lot of people here to support you so don't let this end you, okay? It'll get better, I promise," Taehyung says, his words slow and sure as he looked at me before ruffling up my hair.

I reached up to retie it as I asked him softly, "Who did you lose, Tae?"

He didn't expect me to ask, I can see it in his eyes and I can tell that he doesn't really tell anyone this, but for some reason, his deep and soothing voice fills my ears and his words break my heart because he really meant it when he said he was in my position.

"I lost granny too," he says with that box smile all over again, but this time, I see it.

I see the hidden plea for help, the hidden pain he's worked so hard not to show; it's all there, out in the open and for a second, I think he's showing it to me, but then I realize that he isn't.

I realize that I've finally climbed over the wall he's worked so hard to build.

I was looking into him without him knowing.

"Tae-" I start, but then we hear a yell from downstairs, the voice calling for us both to hurry because Hoseok's mother was waiting in the car for us.

I don't want to break it though so I don't move.

Instead, Taehyung moves firs, turning around and walking away and I know I can't let this happen, leave it like this so before either of us are aware, I'm behind him, wrapping my small arms around him in a lame attempt at a hug.

But his hand gently pats mine and I know it is okay.

He knows that I know and silently, we agree to keep it to ourselves.

We hear another call for us and this time, we're both racing down the stairs, our laughs echoing through the empty house full of the warmest memories one could ever dream of and I know I'm happy, as I win Taehyung and climb into the car before him.

I know, as I sit between Taehyung and Jungkook, that I'm happy to have these boys around with me because without them, I'd probably have been a mess by now.

***

We're standing beside the grave as they lower her down now, flowers and petals already placed down and tossed into the grave, and I can feel the people that knew her judging me because when word got out that I was her granddaughter, they wondered why on earth I wasn't crying.

I could feel them staring at me as I stood beside Yoongi, the boys and Hoseok's mother.

Jungkook had a hand on my shoulder and Taehyung's hand was rubbing small circles of comfort on my back and I'm doing my best not to cry in front of everyone because I truly disliked having others see me cry; it just proved that I was weak.

The pastor calls us forward and asks us to each grab a shovel and start tossing the sand back into the hole created to bury her.

It goes quickly and soon, we're flattening the sand and I'm watching as person after person places a flower on the grave before the funeral is dismissed.

I have yet to take my eyes off of the spot and I feel myself being pulled away but I have no energy to fight against the person. I only let them take me and I can't help but feel completely empty, just like Taehyung had said, as the person guides me until we're out of complete sight of anyone else.

When I don't look up, there's an index finger under my chin that guides my head up so that I'm looking into the familiar soft eyes of Jungkook and I watched as he gave me a smile.

But it wasn't his usual smile.

This smile was a sad smile that I didn't like seeing on the other's face.

"Jung-"

But I don't get to finish my sentence as he pulls me into a hug that has me relaxing into as tears form in my eyes.

"It's okay to cry, Jamie," he whispers softly, tightening his hold on me in a way that makes me crack and soon, I'm hiding my face into his chest and I can feel my body rack and shake with sob after sob.

I feel embarrassed, but at the same time, I've ever felt such relief as I let it all out.

Jungkook continues to my hair and sway with me from side to side as he hummed a tune I didn't recognise but really did find myself taking a liking to.

Soon enough, my tears have stopped and I'm pulling away when he stops me, lifting his hands to my cheeks and wiping my face with his thumbs as he whispers softly, "You're one of the strongest people I know, Jamie. Don't ever let anyone change that."

At his words, I find myself blushing and I couldn't think of anything to say so I simply nod.

He gently takes hold of my wrist and tugs me forward before we start walking back to the boys. As I see them standing there, I notice that they're surrounding someone, but I have to squint to make out the person because for some reason, I'd chosen to wear contacts for the first time which only irritated my eyes.

When we're finally close enough for me to make out who the person is, however, I stop dead in my tracks, Jungkook stopping a few feet ahead of me and looking at me with a frown of confusion.

The boys all turn and I can see Yoongi's expression out of the corner of my eye because he knows.

The others didn't know any better and I suppose neither did Yoongi, but out of all of them there, he knew; it was obvious as his eyes kept flicking between the two of us.

The man's taller than the rest of the boys, his hair his gelled down and he had his suit sleeves rolled up until his elbows. He hadn't bothered to wear a tie and his top button was untied while he wore a gold chain and a pair of shoes that seemed so out of place from his entire outfit.

His blue eyes stare down at me and his eyes dance mischievously and I know now that he's the one who gave Jackson my address.

He had a plan and this was only the beginning.

I wonder what he was doing here though, because the last time he'd even bothered to check on my grandmother was five years ago when he'd cut all ties with her. Heck, he hadn't even been invited.

From all the guests, he seemed so out of place and as I look at him, I can't believe how long it's been since I last saw this man in the flesh; almost as long ago since I last saw Jackson before he showed up here.

What really caught me off guard was when he spoke. His once rough voice had taken on a softer tone that left you wondering whether it was even possible.

"Here she is, boys; my darling daughter."