Chapter Fourteen- Christmas Brings Us Closer

~Erin POV~

I stared out the window, fluffy blankets of snow covered everything you could see and it still continued to fall. Christmas was coming up very soon and it appeared like it would be a white Christmas after all. Big Hit had decided to do a big Christmas stage with all of its idols before we all go on a break and visit our families, so we were currently driving on our way there to practice.

I hadn't seen Namjoon or the other members of BTS since our shared stage we did together, and I'll admit I'm feeling pretty lonely without them. I mean I have my members but seeing the guys every once in a while brightened my mood so much faster. I had my earbuds plugged in my ears as my head rested against the cold car window, letting my thoughts wander as the wind blew fluffy flakes of snow around.

The van we were in finally arrived at the Big Hit building and we all hurried inside and out of the frosty cold that nipped mercilessly at our exposed cheeks. Euna chattered on excitedly about getting to see her baby sister and mother for Christmas, while Aeri yawned and stretched her arms. I'm guessing she was up late composing again, either that or talking to her father who was eager to have her home and tell him about everything in her life.

Alex chuckled as Euna talked about when her baby sister first ate baby food, exaggerating her facial expressions to make her story better. I would have joined in on the conversation but I had lost myself in thinking about my own family. I missed them a lot and got home sick almost every day. Being that my family is in America as well as Alex's family, we haven't gotten a chance to go home in a while. Not since right before we debuted. I almost envied Euna who's family live pretty close to where we lived and she got to visit relatively often.

Aeri's father lived alone with her younger brother, who was my age. She didn't talk about her mother much but from what I understand her mother had divorced her father and left them when Aeri was only 6. She seems to despise her mom and constantly worries about her father even with her brother always there to keep an eye on him.

"Erin, are you going to be able to visit your family during our break?" Aeri suddenly piped up to me, bringing me back to the conversation at hand. Euna and Alex were up ahead of us a little ways babbling about family Christmas traditions. "Ah, yeah we will but only for a few days." I answered, rubbing my hands together in an attempt to warm them up. She studied me before frowning.

"That sucks, when are you going and coming back?" The look on her face was hard to decipher but I had a feeling she was leading up to something. "We are leaving on December 23rd and stay until we get back on a plane to Seoul on Christmas night." I replied. She nodded and tapped her chin in thought before she seemed to have an idea. "Okay, so when you come back why don't the two of you come and stay at my dad's with me. I mean you don't have to but I would feel a lot better with you guys there.."

A look of anxiety crossed her face and she nibbles on her bottom lip, averting her gaze to the floor. I felt immediately that there was definitely something bothering her. "Unnie, what's wrong?" She paused and then looked around a little as if worried someone would be eavesdropping. "Um well... I mean it's not that big of a deal... I think it will be okay..." I reached out and squeezed her shoulder tenderly to give a little source of comfort.

"You know you can tell me anything." I plead lightly wanting to help her in any way I can. She heaved a big sigh as if she had been holding her breath for ages. "Alright you got me. Well you know how my mom left my dad when I was a kid for some rich dude? Well she is suddenly back and claims she wants to be a part of our lives again! I mean she has the nerve to show up and say she truly missed me and Hyun, my little brother, after abandoning us like she did!"

I frowned and gave her a look of sympathy. "If you need me I will definitely come and Alex will too." Aeri nodded her thanks and let out a weak smile as we entered the meeting room. Today all the artists under Big Hit are gathering to have a meeting to figure out how the special Christmas stage is going to go. Already inside the room were the duo Homme, Changmin and Lee Hyun. They were both lounging casually on a couch, speaking with Pd Nim.

They all smiled and greeted us warmly. Just then the members of BTS barged in, covered in snow and shivering like a bunch of autumn leaves. Namjoon along with the others smiled sheepishly. "Please excuse our tardiness, we got... preoccupied." He said as they all bowed. We all hid snickers and giggles as Homme exchanged glances full of nostalgia. The both of them being men as well probably understood the boys were having a snowball battle, boys will be boys.

The meeting carried on for a while and after we all joked around and just hung out. Although Aeri seemed distant the whole time. I was sitting down watching her, chewing on my bottom lip trying to figure out how to make her feel better when Namjoon sat down next to me. I smiled at him and laid my head on his shoulder. "Excited to see your family?" He said breaking the silence.

"Definitely, I miss them a lot. What about you?" He smiled and nodded. "So how long will you be in America?" He said earning an eyebrow raise from me. He seemed kinda shy and I had a feeling he wanted to plan a night out with me when I got back. A smile naturally graced my lips as I snuggled closer to him. "Hmm only a few days and I will be back on the 26th. Why?" He hesitated and his hand rose up to cup the back of his neck, a sure sign of his embarrassment.

"Ah I just wanted to know, the members and I were thinking about having a Christmas party or something so I was just wondering..." I smirked and kissed his cheek, making him jump in surprise. "The girls and I would love to come, just let us know when and we'll be there." He smiled cutely and nodded as I got up and followed the rest of our members to the car, I was now looking forward to Christmas even more.

That night we were all gathered around the dining room table telling goofy stories and giggling like crazy. "Hyun has never been able to look at slugs the same way again!" Aeri finished as we all broke into fits of giggles. "Hey Aeri, how's your dad and brother anyway?" Euna questioned taking a sip from her can of Coca-Cola. I noticed the hollow look in Aeri's eyes at the mention of her family but it was gone almost as if it was never there to begin with.

She gave a halfhearted shrug and took a sip of her Dr Pepper. "They're both fine, Hyun is busy with his college classes and part time job and my dad is working hard at his job. The usual." If Euna noticed the 'drop-it' atmosphere eminating from Aeri, she didn't show it. "Oh that's great! I bet you guys will have a great Christmas! Ah I can't wait to spend time with my mom! I haven't seen her in weeks!"

Aeri flinched slightly at the word 'mom' but quickly recovered. "Ah, yeah that's good. I hope you have a good time catching up." Alex frowned and I figured she could feel the anxiety in Aeri's voice. It was pretty obvious where her mind had drifted to. Alex looked to me and gave me a questioning look but I mouthed the word 'later' which she accepted with a nod. Euna continued to babble on about her mom and how much time they spend together while we all added in something to make her believe we weren't being rude.

"My mom and I are planning on going to a spa day and then to dinner! Hey Erin what about your mom? Any plans?" I snapped my head in her direction being caught off guard by suddenly being dragged in the conversation. "Ah my whole family is just going to watch movies together and hang out, nothing special." Euna smiled before turning her attention to Alex who was reading on her phone.

"Alex what about you? Are you close to your mom?" Out of the corner of my eye I could see Aeri bite her lip, a lip that looked to be trembling. Alex tried to shrug off Euna's conversation topic and began trying to talk about a new dance choreo she wanted to learn. Aeri got up from the table and mumbled about going to bed and hurried off to our shared room. A few weeks ago we traded roomates so now Alex and Euna shared and Aeri and I shared.

Alex and Euna were talking about music now and I told them I was taking my leave as well. They bid me a good night as I walked into the room. Aeri was sitting on her bed, her knees pulled up and pressed to her chest with her chin rested on top. Her lips were pouty and I could tell she was trying to keep from crying. "Damnit, how am I going to deal with my mom? She probably only showed up again because she found out her daughter is an idol. The evil bitch is probably just after money."

I frowned but remained silent, I mean what was I supposed to say? I took a seat at the end of her bed. "Hey you're going to be fine, whether she is being sincere or not, you'll have Alex an I there. Plus if she starts acting like a bitch then you can just kick her out. I'm sure Hyun would even help." Aeri sniffled lightly before letting a weak smile pull at her lips. "Yeah if she causes trouble you and I can tag team her ass and have Alex and Hyun hold my dad back!" We both chuckled a little before someone started knocking on our bedroom door.

As soon as I opened it Euna came in and bowed deeply at Aeri. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry Aeri! I didn't even realize I had said something to hurt you because I was so caught up in the moment! I mean I knew your relationship with your mom isn't the best but I didn't know it was so bad until Alex explained it to me so please forgive me!" Aeri looked a little surprised but she smiled. "It's all good, I wasn't angry or anything so don't worry about it."

A few weeks later we had finished the Christmas stage and Alex and I were packing for our trip to America. I was folding a few pairs of skinny jeans and leggings, putting them in my suitcase when Aeri came in, on the phone with her father. I didn't want to eavesdrop but that was impossible in the relatively small room.

"Ugh! Dad I already said I refuse to talk to that woman one on one! Who knows what would happen if I lose my temper and no one is there to stop me!"

Pause..."No! That's not the point! I'm telling you I'm disgusted by her and will most likely rearrange her face if she tries to get me to acknowledge her as my mom or get money out of me! You and I both know she's nothing but a gold digger! Didn't she leave us because of her affair with her rich boss!" I flinched at the raw emotion wracking her voice. She was clutching the phone tightly and looked as if she was about to cry. "Dad I'm telling you that I won't go to that dinner if I can't bring at least one friend."

Her voice had taken on a frail tone, begging him to comply. After a pause, it seemed as if her father had caved and she let out a sigh of relief. She sent me a smile and then bid her father farewell. With that we all got in the van to the airport. Euna and Aeri saw us off with cheery farewell.

Going home was great. The first thing I did was jump into my dad's arms and hug him. I have always been what you would call 'Daddy's little princess' so I missed my dad and his jokes more than anything. We spent Christmas together and caught up a lot before it was time for me to board my plane back to Seoul. After arriving Aeri was there to greet us. Euna was still off with her family so she wasn't there.

We dropped our luggage at the dorms and cleaned ourselves up before going with Aeri to her father's house. She tried to act relaxed but I could tell she was stressing out big time. She kept fidgeting with her hands and changing her posture. Luckily, or not, the drive was a relatively long one. Eventually we pulled into the driveway of her father's house.

Before we could completely get out of the van, the front door opened and a gentle looking older man stepped out. He had a kind smile and a calming aura. "Welcome!" He said happily to us, shaking our hands before pulling Aeri into a hug. Not a moment later the door opened again and a young man probably around my age came out. He had black hair that fell just past his eyebrows, and honey brown eyes. He shyly stood on the porch, not sure what to do with himself.

Aeri's father quickly ushered us inside chattering excitedly about his daughter being home and bringing friends. The young man from before welcomed us sweetly with a smile. "Ah guys this is my little brother, Hyun. Hyun these are my friends and group mates, Erin and Alex." He smiled shyly and messed with his hair, before fidgeting with his hands. "Ah, um nice to meet you! And ahh umm t-thanks for taking care of my sister." He blushed lightly and bowed his head. I'll be completely honest, he was adorable.

After we were all settled and calmly making conversation we could hear the loud roar of a sports car outside. Aeri tensed immediately, and from the way Hyun shrunk back into the couch I could tell it was probably their mother. A few knocks on the door made us all jump slightly. In walked a woman wearing expensive clothes and high stilettos that seemed to click way too loudly on the wood floors. She had long hair that was dyed a burgundy color, and her face was caked with makeup.

Dinner started out pretty awkward, as one would expect. We all sat at the dinner table as Aeri's mother began babbling about her and Aeri taking a picture together and Aeri and her going out more often. I felt increasingly more annoyed the more she kept trying to coerce Aeri into helping her be famous and how she completely ignored Hyun's existence.

The poor boy looked at his mother longingly, almost like a kicked puppy, he really wanted recognition from her yet she completely ignored him. "Aeri, honey I think your fans would be really excited to know that your mother supports you so we should take lots of pictures for social media and maybe in your next interview-" She was cut off by Aeri standing up and slamming her hands down on the table.

Her father looked really nervous, looking back and fourth between the two women, and Hyun looked as if he didn't know how to handle the situation. "Stop it! I'm not going to spread a load of lies to the people who actually support me, the fans! Just give up, you have never been a mother to me! And you sure as hell never have been for Hyun either! Have you even acknowledged him today?! God I knew this whole thing was some ploy for you to get famous!"

Her mother gaped at her, looking disgusted. "How dare you speak like that to the woman who gave birth to you! I brought you into this world!" Aeri clenched her hands into fists, grinding her teeth together. "You May have brought me into this world, but you sure as hell aren't a reason I would want to stay in it! Now leave before I mess up the face you spent so much money on!" Her mother looked outraged by her seething daughter and opened her mouth to snap back but Hyun stopped her.

"Leave, now. You aren't our mother, nor will you ever be. So go because you are unwanted here. There's no need for all this fighting." Aeri's mother then turned on her son, her explosive temper was about to lead her to make her biggest mistake of the night. She swung her hand up and slapped Hyun. Aeri flew at her mother, swinging her fists in a blind rage, landing a few solid hits in the face.

Alex and I jumped into action pulling Aeri back, as her father stood and checked his son before he pointed to the door. "LEAVE!" The woman snarled at us all before grabbing her overly expensive purse and stomping away. After that Hyun helped me calm Aeri down from the trembling rage and Alex helped her father clean up. As we were leaving Hyun had thanked us again, saying Aeri wouldn't have held back like she did if we weren't there. And somehow I ended up exchanging numbers with him deciding he was going to be a good friend from now on.

The next morning I yawned as I threw my blanket off of me, shutting the alarm off. It was the day of the Bangtan Christmas party. We all got dressed to impress and headed over to the new dorm they had just moved into. Jimin opened the door and let us in, he had his signature smile in place, you know the one that makes all the fangirls go crazy. Inside was beautifully decorated and I had an inkling that Jin had been managing it.

"Merry Christmas!!" Hoseok exclaimed as we came in. Jin was cooking with some help from Jimin, who was taste testing. Jungkook and Tae were setting the table, with a little bit of rough-housing. And Yoongi and Namjoon were putting wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. Jungkook and Tae looked in our direction and I could tell Jungkook was staring primarily at Alex. Alex looked super cute tonight with an outfit that showed off every one of her curves and I'm pretty sure Jungkook had taken notice.

I saw the tips of his ears turn red and a smile fell on my lips. He was so into her. The two maknaes came to join us as Euna went to help Jin cook and Aeri stepped outside to talk to Hyun on the phone. Tae smiled widely at me and hugged me like a child. "Glad you guys could make it, what do you think of our new place? Pretty nice right?" I chuckled and agreed as he pulled back to give me his close eyed box smile.

I noticed movement in the corner of my eye and noticed Jungkook and Alex were talking a little bit away from us, and it looked like things were going well between them. Alex had a glow about her and I had a feeling the two of them might be flirting, even if they don't realize it's flirting. "Wow Erin! You look so pretty!" I focused my sight back on Tae who was looking at me with what seemed like admiration. I decided there wasn't any harm in complimenting back so I went for it, his eyes seemed to glean happily as he smiled.

"Hey Erin, are all the girls here?" I cut my gaze from the cheery Tae to the calm Yoongi. "Yeah, Euna is helping Jin, and Aeri's on the phone with her brother." He nodded and gave Tae a look, I wasn't really sure what the look meant but Tae quickly excused himself to finish setting the table. "Erin why don't you come help Namjoon and I finish wrapping gifts, Namjoon's pretty shit at it." I couldn't help but laugh and nodded following him to another room.

"Oh and don't worry, your presents were already wrapped, along with the rest of the girls. We just gotta wrap the presents we got for the other members." He opened the door to Namjoon's room and held it open for me. Namjoon lifted his head, he was trying to wrap a box and I now understood why Yoongi wanted me to come help. "Erin! Hey I could really use some help wrapping this, I keep ripping it and having to start all over."

I giggled and guided his hands the right way to wrap as he just stared at me the whole time. Yoongi suddenly finished wrapping his presents and disappeared, he was being considerate and giving us alone time together. After we had finally wrapped the last one, Namjoon had pulled me close and I buried myself in his arms. He ran his fingers through my hair and I let out a sigh of contentment, it always felt so right in his arms.

Soon we had all eaten dinner and exchanged gifts, I had gotten a lot of cute stuffed animals and keepsakes from places they had gone around the world on their last tour. Namjoon had gotten me an adorable necklace that was a heart with a key hole in it and a key attached on the bottom. Jungkook had gotten Alex a beautiful jewel necklace with a silver angel wing. As we were all sitting on the floor I noticed Hoseok and Jimin giggling as they snuck into the room behind Jungkook and Alex.

Hoseok was holding something, hanging on the end of a pole was a string tied around a branch of mistletoe. The two tried not to make any noise as they let the mistletoe dangle above Jungkook and Alex. "Oooh! You two are under the mistletoe!" Jimin proclaimed loudly, making the two in question jump. All eyes turn to watch them, wondering if they would actually kiss. Jungkook and Alex looked at one another, their cheeks both dyed a light pink. Right before our eyes, the maknaes from both groups leaned in and kissed each other.

As you can imagine, we all freaked out cheering. Hoseok got so into screaming that he accidentally swung the pole and whacked Tae in the head. Jin started laughing his signature laugh which set all of us off laughing as well. Hoseok began swinging the mistletoe around and it broke off the string, landing on Yoongi's lap. On Yoongi's left sat Jin and on his right I was sitting. He looked around before leaning over and kissing my cheek, I hadn't expected it and my cheeks grew pink. Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn't see Namjoon frowning at us. Yoongi must have noticed that Namjoon was jealous because he kinda shrugged and then he grabbed the mistletoe and threw it at Namjoon who was sitting on my other side. Now all eyes were on us.

Namjoon gave me a flirty smile, holding the mistletoe above our heads. "Oooh now it's their turn!" I felt my cheeks heat up even more, I was not usually one to blush so everyone "awwed" He leaned in and our lips melded together perfectly. After a little while we pulled away and everyone began teasing us, of course the teasing was also directed at Alex and Jungkook.

I snuggled into Namjoon's side when the topic of conversation had finally changed to something other than the mistletoe kisses. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and placed a gentle kiss on the top of my head. I looked around the room and took in the peaceful atmosphere. All of these people in here had become something like a family. Namjoon rubbed gentle circles in my arm as I stayed snuggled against him. I could see Alex with Jungkook, they were sitting really close and their hands were on top of each other.

I began to doze off, I felt so warm and cozy. I could faintly hear the the happy laughter from my friends all around me. This made me feel content. I finally feel like I found where I belong. This turned out to be a good Christmas after all.