Peyton

I tried to ignore the hands wrapping around me from behind as RaeRae giggles while she and her little boy toy play fight with me.

Rae pulls on my hand, looking up and seeing the arms around me. She follows them until she finally finds the face. She smiles widely, sending me a knowing look. This kid.

"I'm gonna show him the reading corner," Rae says to me, grabbing her friend's hand and pulling him away. Once she was out of view, I try to wiggle free from his hold.

"Stop being so touchy," I mumble, untangling his arms and stepping away from him. I pull the chair over, plopping back onto it while also keeping an eye on the two people giggling quietly in the corner of the kids' section.

"But you're so huggable!", he whined, tugging on my hand childishly. I looked away, scoffing while I notice the faint smirk etching on his face. "You enjoy it, don't lie."

"PeyPey!"

Just what I wanted, someone to call me away from him. I get up, seeing Rae waving me over to her. I notice the boy is looking sad, possible tears forming.

I hurry over to them, trying not to seem like I'm extremely worried. I wasn't, I just wanted to get away from Jimin quicker.

"What's wrong?", I softly ask her, looking at the bigger distance between the two children.

"He said reading books are stupid!", she points directly at him, crossing her arms and turning away, a pout on her face.

"Not everyone likes the same things," I quickly think of something to solve this. I grab both of their hands, bringing them closer to each other until they were holding hands. "You both will find things you like together and on your own."

"Okay," the boy nods his head, smiling at Rae slightly. "I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven," RaeRae turns pink, looking down at their connecting hands. I nod my head, standing up when I see my job is done.

I back away slowly, turning around when I reach the end of the aisle, bumping into someone's chest. Jimin's to be exact. He catches my arm, smiling down at me.

"Why must you be everywhere I turn?", I mumble, keeping down the smile that wanted to appear on my face. His smile was contagious.

I hear giggling behind me, knowing it was Rae. "That's what I was telling you about. Jiminie and PeyPey like each other."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her comment and instead focus on getting out of his hug now. He brought his head down into the crook of my neck, wrapping his arms around my back, forcing me into yet another one of his warm hugs. I melt.

"Hug me," he whispered, catching my attention as my arms begin to wrap around his shoulders. My heart rate picked up, beating crazily under my rib cage.

Peyton, control yourself. You don't need to give away whatever you're feeling away.

"RaeRae?", I hear her mother call out to her. I push Jimin away, running out to greet the smiling woman. "Oh, Peyton. How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?", I ask, smiling as she gives me arm a light squeeze.

"Exhausted, thank you again for watching them," she smiles gratefully at me, turning her attention to the two figures walking over, hand in hand and a book in their arms. "Seems like they hit it off."

"Hi, mommy!", RaeRae chirped, grinning from ear to ear at her mother. The boy smiles too, a shy smile. "Are we bringing him home too?"

"Yes, we are, speaking of which, we have to hurry!", she took ahold of her daughter's free hand, pushing the book under her arm. "Thank you, Peyton and Jimin!"

I let out a small laugh, waving goodbye to the two kids waving at me. "Bye, see you soon!"

I let my head fall back, feeling the stress of babysitting being released off my shoulders. I trudge back to the counter, hopping onto it, swinging my feet side to side.

I look around, finding Jimin occupying himself with the books on the shelf he was standing near. All day, he was hanging on me, invading my space, not that I minded.

I told myself he was only doing it to please Rae since she was so hopeful. Somehow, my heart decided against it. Too bad for it then.

I turn away, already finding myself staring too long at him and not wanting him to catch me. It was bad enough that he messed with hair all the time now. He doesn't need anything else to screw with me.

"PeyPey," he called out in a sing-song voice, bouncing his way over to me. I hesitantly looked over at him, noticing his red hair laying in several directions.

"What?", I give him a short reply, hoping that I could go home soon. My job was done already, I technically could just ditch him now.

"Why are you sitting on my counter?"

"It's not yours," I remark, tilting my head away from him. "I want to sit here."

He stood a few feet away, my heart tightening as it realized he was only being touchy for RaeRae. It doesn't always get what it wants.

"Still, you shouldn't sit there," he counters, eyes drifting to my swinging legs. I stopped moving them, slowly sliding off the counter. I felt my feet hit the floor, preparing to bid my farewell.

"I'm gonna go now," I motioned behind me with my thumb, slowly stepping backward. He chewed on his bottom lip, contemplating whether he should speak or not.

"So soon?", he spoke up, stopping me from moving anywhere. "I thought you'd want more hugs."

Stupid smirk, stupid.

"I'm done with you pulling my feelings around," I spit out, only realizing what I said when he eyes met mine instantly. His mouth parted slowly, reaching his hand out to mine while I shook my head. "Forget that."

I sprinted away, not bothering to look back as I burst out the front door. I decided against calling Piper to get me, it'll give Jimin time to catch up to me.

I ran down the sidewalk, looking down the street as I bolted across it, hoping it a car was coming it would see me. My heart raced, my throat tightening suddenly.

Why did I say that? Admitting the feelings I didn't know I had?

That was true. I didn't know what was happening to me, and I didn't know until now. I guess I did like the red-haired freak that annoyed me until the minute I slept.

He was always on my mind, whether it was good or bad, he constantly invaded my thoughts.

I looked up at the apartment building, pushing through the front doors and heading straight for the lift. I jabbed at the button, looking back once it was pressed. I watched the front door, hoping I still had time to get in and close the doors.

It dinged, while I quickly ran in, pushing the close doors button. I hit my floor number at the same time, looking up when I heard someone say my name.

"Peyton!"

I saw an inch of his panting face as the doors closed. It started to move, while I tried to calm my breathing. He would either wait for another lift or use the stairs.

The doors opened again, while I pushed past the couple wanting to get in. I ran down the hall, fumbling with my apartment doorknob. I stumbled in, my eyes shooting up when I heard more than one person here.

Of course, his friends were here.

"Piper!", I shout for her, hearing her quick footsteps getting closer to me. She comes around the corner, looking confused at my posture. "I-I-"

"You told him, I can see it on your face," she breathed out, falling speechless. She holds her arms out for me as I collapsed into them. I wasn't sad, I wasn't crying. I was terrified.

It was my first time, actually confessing to someone. It seemed easy when other people did it, but it was not.

Piper rubbed my back, waving her hand at the guys crowding around us. "She'll be fine."

I heard mumbles, closing my eyes and catching my breath as she held onto me. She walked me over to the sofa, sitting me down while I went through my thoughts.

We both looked up, hearing frantic and quick knocking on the door. Tae jumped up, happily running over to it, completely oblivious to what the others were catching up on. He pulled it open, frowning when he was pushed out of the way.

I tried to look away, tried. He scanned the others, locking his intense gaze on me. Piper tightened her grip on my arm, making me look at her. I was about to protest when I felt a hand grip mine, pulling my body from the sofa cushions.

Piper jumped up, following after me while I looked forward, seeing him leave my apartment. The others stood behind Piper, staring as I was being pulled into his apartment.

I looked back, seeing their confused and shocked faces as the door of Jimin's apartment closed. I stayed silent, looking down at my hand in his.

"What was that?", he suddenly asked, forcing my eyes up to his. He looked puzzled, he looked desperate. "You say that and run away?"

I couldn't speak, my words got stuck in my throat. This was new, I was always one to speak my mind. Right now, I strongly wished I could speak up.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I-I can't," I manage to get out, hugging my arms around myself. I shifted awkwardly under his gaze, wanting to back in time to stop myself from telling him that.

"You can. What did you mean, pulling with your feelings?", he spoke quietly, his eyes not leaving me as he talks.

"Nothing, it was nothing."

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't have run away," he points out, catching me in a lie. "Tell me what you mean."

"It doesn't mean-"

"It does mean something! Just out with it!", his loudness caused me to flinch, he really wanted to know. I didn't know why.

"I like you, okay! No, I don't know why. No, I didn't know until now. I wish I could've stopped it from happening, but you invaded every part of my life. Every corner I turned, you were there. Boxing, you were there. The library, you were there. My home, you were there," I rambled on, finally gaining the courage to speak. "I actually accepted the thought of being friends with you. Then today, you just had to go above and beyond for Rae. Hugging me every minute she looked at us, I knew you could feel my heart pounding in my chest. The back hugs? I didn't know I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. Do you not realize what you do to me?"

I look up at him, my hands slowly falling to my sides when I realized I was furiously waving them around. He looked stunned, surprised, he was speechless. My face was the exact color of his hair, from embarrassment.

His eyes bored into my own, his mouth slightly parted as he took in every word I told him. My lips tingled, wishing to be molded well with his.

"Jimin, if you aren't going to say anything, I'm going to leave," I told him, my hand reaching back for the handle. "Don't follow me."

I glanced at him once more, shaking my head and pulling open the door. It was only minutes that I was in there, but the others stood outside my apartment. I swung the door open, leaving it open for the boys to go comfort their friend.

I sulked quietly, trying to keep the pain off my face. I wasn't about to ruin my tough girl image. Piper saw straight through it obviously, she was my sister after all.

"I like you too!"

My body froze in place, hearing the yell from behind me. I couldn't stop my body from turning around as I saw him walking fast toward me. "What?"

"I like you too," he breathed out, looking down at me from where he stood, directly in front of me. "I thought it was obvious."

"Not exactly," I couldn't stop the words that left my mouth. However, they elicited a chuckle from his lips, a hand brushing against my own. His fingers slipped between my own, his small but warm palm connecting with mine.

"Is it too late?", he asks, the sudden question thoroughly confusing me.

"Is what too late?", I tilt my head sideways, a blush rising to my cheeks as his thumbs rub circles onto the back of my hand. This was different, was everything about him warm? Hugs, hand holding. I couldn't say anything about kissing him. His lips were warm, from the times he playfully did in front of Rae.

"Am I too late?", he clarified, switching up his choice of words. That made sense, kind of. Was he too late to what?

"I guess not," I shrugged, hearing a door close behind me. Piper and the others probably went back inside. "Why?"

"I was waiting for them to leave," he quickly spoke out, pulling his hand from mine, bringing them both to hold my waist. He pulled me forward, closing his eyes and bringing his lips down to mine.

This was better than I expected.

It definitely was better than I expected.

He was gentle and firm at the same time if that was possible. I didn't know it was possible to be opposites at once.

Remember when I said I melt? I was a puddle with this. My knees felt like jelly, the only thing holding me up was his hands around my waist. My eyes were closed now, my lips instantly responding to his.

I didn't know how to specifically respond but it seemed like he was guiding me.

He pulled away, resting our foreheads together, softly smiling to himself. "You actually kissed back."

"Surprised?", I pant out, my legs slowly gaining back their bones. I could stand up without falling over now.

"Very," he opened his eyes, meeting my already open ones. He smiled wider, hugging me close to him now. He rests his head on top of mine, my arms wrapping around his neck. "I didn't think you would like me back."

"Why wouldn't I?", I ask, nuzzling my head further into his neck, he was comfy. Why wouldn't I like him back? He was a lovable person.

"You're hard to get. You were picky about who you liked, I wasn't sure if you liked cheesy guys," he explained, sighing as he hugged me tighter.

"I never told you what kind of guy I liked, only that I liked boxing guys," I smile at that, it was obvious that I liked him at the amusement park. I didn't know what my own words meant then.

"I guess I like boxing girls then," he added on, humming as he started to stroke my hair. "What kind of guys do you like?"

"You won't be perfect," I state, feeling him tense up. "However, you'll be perfect for me. I don't ask for a lot, just treat me like a best friend and someone you like."

He pulled back, a smile not leaving his face as he looks down at me. "Miss Right, that's what you are."

"Better treat me like it," I playfully warn him, watching him scoff as he shakes his head.

"You'll be treated like the most expensive thing in the world," he looked like he was joking, but his words seemed sincere. I found myself believing them.

"Prove it."