i belong with you / you belong with me / you’re my sweetheart

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you felt his warm, sweet breath tickling your ear before you heard the words. one strong hand on the nape of your neck, the other grazing your waist, he leant in close, and honestly, you had never felt so safe in your entire life. the two of you had woken up like this, wrapped in blankets, television crackling gently, for the past two nights.

 

he was your best friend, and best friends look after each other, especially when the other can’t face her family. despite the fact he lived over an hour away, the second you’d called him, tears pooling underneath your chin, he’d gotten the next bus to your school. when you’d glanced up through misty tears and a curtain of hair, his tall frame was unmistakable. so was that smile. 

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“what’s wrong? i’m coming now.”

 

“mingyu, he’s dying, there was a crash, oh god. oh god no.”

 

“wait there, i’m coming. it’s going to be okay.”

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eternally bright, just a little crooked, just a little. you fell in love with that mouth before you fell in love with the rest of him, wondering for nights upon nights how he could grin so wildly while you crumbled. he’d just learnt to be strong, was all. you’d discover that soon enough.

 

“hey. are you awake?” a deep whisper brought you crashing back to reality, where his fingers pinched the fabric of your t-shirt and his hand held the spot where your jaw met your ear, as if to keep you from falling apart. his shoulder was saturated with tears, and under his eyes were stormy blue with lack of sleep, but still, mingyu endured. 

 

“yeah, i’m awake. didn’t you sleep?”

 

“nope.”

 

you felt a deep pool of guilt in your chest because of that. while you slept, having expelled all of the sobbing your body could withhold, he kept watch for the death knell that would inevitably come. he didn’t want you to be the first to know, because you’d only soak up all of the pain, like a car making a fatal impact. 

 

until then, he’d be the greatest comfort you would know. the only comfort you would know, all wide smiles and limbs wrapped lazily about your body. the night before, he sang songs into your neck whilst you stared ahead blankly, unable to even give him some semblance of the affection he showed you back. 

 

“you talk in your sleep, y’know.” he shifted underneath you to a sitting position, leaning now against the wall, one of those wild grins transforming his tired features into those of a mischievous child. 

 

“i do not, you liar.” you’d been lying down, eyes closed, but now, light filtering rose pink over your eyelids, you blinked up at your friend, hair at all angles, gazing down at you affectionately. 

 

“would you like to know what you said?”  he teased, drawing his knees up to his chin, resting his face upon them. there he was, a vision of your childhood, always teasing, always lovely, scrapes on his knees from racing you home and tumbling to the ground over untied laces. you always won, but he never gave up trying. 

 

 

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“i hope i told you how much i love when your fingers eclipse mine. or how good you’ve been to me over the years. it’s only the truth. it’s only meant to be”

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you glared at him, bleary-eyed, as he made his way over to you once more on his knees, the smile growing exponentially on his face with your disapproval. it was faked, of course, you could feel your mask falter as that grin began to reach his eyes, scrunched up with joy. 

 

“you kept calling out my name.” he revealed triumphantly, ripping a cry of despair from your throat, head in hands, desperately trying to cover the blush that rose upon your tear-stained cheeks. he blinked in shock at that, backtracking, stammering to divert the subject. 

 

“what? uh no, actually, you were talking about pancakes. with syrup. and strawberries. that was it, i was kidding!” but you knew a lie when you heard it, no matter how much you’d like to believe that all you had mumbled about was breakfast. 

 

“oh, shut up.”

 

he must have had some idea of the feelings you had locked away for him. it was obvious in the way your eyes trailed up his figure every time you met, drinking in every inch of his being, lest it should be the last time you’d ever do so. you had always been scared of his disappearing into the ether, a ghost in your past. he had the potential to do that; just slip away for a time. he always came back though. he’d never hurt you like that.

 

but now you’d clamped your eyes shut, unwilling to look at his tanned skin, his sweet smile. for a moment, amongst all of the chaos of your life, you had felt a pang of embarrassment, a hot blush spreading from your chest outwards. and all over him.

 

however, deep and sonorous, his voice hummed into your ears. you could hear him coming closer, and yet, you froze, pretzel-legged, tongue-tied, his face mere inches from yours. he smelt of home. of clean sheets, and night air. of petrichor and old books. he was everything new and pure, and yet, all that was safe and familiar.

 

“hey.” he murmured at last. your eyes flashed open, softening at the curve of his mouth.

 

“yes?”

 

“you shut up.” he replied petulantly, before pressing his lips to yours. home. home.

 

home.