I returned to my apartment, alone.

I haven't slept alone once in the last week. For the last two weeks if we include the nights they started staying over as their animals. Gah, has it only been two weeks?

I shake my head as the tears silently fall. I walk into my living room and sit down on the couch and just stare at the wall. My tears get bigger and I feel like a big gaping hole exists where my heart used to be. Why wouldn't they listen? Why couldn't they trust me?

I lean over and my head falls into my hands and the tears fall harder, great sobs escape from my body as I cry out my heartbreak. I feel like they broke up with me, even if logically I know they didn't, it still feels that way.

I thought we were in this together, fighting for us, together. Why would they turn their backs to me like this? Why won't they trust that we will be okay?

I try to feel them inside. Feel that I'm not alone in this and the strands are silent. For the first time since discovering them, I don't feel them. They lie silent, no longer pulsing with their love and warmth and the occasional caress. It's as if the boys are deliberately pulling their feelings away from me. This leaves me feeling like there is a hole inside, absent and empty.

I cry harder.

I aimlessly walk around my apartment, tears falling, I can't sit still with the restlessness I feel as my tears fall and my heart breaks. I want to fix this. I want to make it right and knowing that I can't change their minds frustrates me and I continue to sob and cry. That the strands also reflect their determination to keep our distance just breaks my heart father.

Can't they feel my heartbreak through the strands? Can't they even reassure me in this that we are still together? Why do they have to separate us in every way?

I eventually crawl into my bed and cry myself until I fall asleep, exhausted.

When I wake, I look around and see that it's very early in the morning. I've slept the night through, but I'm restless and still exhausted. I go wash my face and see that my eyes are swollen from crying so long yesterday.

I take a shower and get dressed in sweats and a baggy shirt and feel completely unmotivated. I go look in my fridge for anything to eat and realize I don't have anything I want to eat, nor do I want to have breakfast with my coworkers.

Making a decision, I decide I need comfort food and my mom. I grab my purse and walk out to my car. My eyes look around, automatically sweeping the area trying to see evidence of my animals but there is nothing to see. I get into my car and drive to town.

I drive up to my parent's house and park behind my mom's car. I look at the house I've grown up in and the feeling of wanting to cry starts to overwhelm me again. I get out of the car and walk up to the door, sniffling, but holding back my tears.

The door opens and there stands my mom. She takes one look at my tear-stained face and opens up her arms. Without asking what happened, she takes me into her embrace and I break down and the tears fall.

"Oh, baby girl," she coos as she brings me into the living room and sits me down. I lay my head down on her shoulder as I sit next to her and let the tears fall. My dad comes in and hands me a cup of my favorite peppermint hot chocolate. I sit up and hold the cup and sip the warm drink that never failed to make me feel better when I was a child. I take a deep breath and take in the warmth from the drink prepared lovingly by my dad. I take a few deep breaths, pulling myself back together again.

"Feel better?" My mom asks.

"Getting there," I murmur. My dad leans down to give me a hug. He then stands up, "I have to head to the store, but you stay with your mom, she'll get you all better." He leaves a kiss on the top of my head and then heads out the door. My dad is an amazing man. He doesn't say much, but he's never failed to be the strength that mom and I needed. His trust that mom would make everything all right again made me glad that I came home.

As I sit there, quietly drinking my hot chocolate while my mom patiently waits for me to gather myself again, I realize that I really needed a break from the center. So much has happened in too short of time. Have I really even had time to process it all?

I sigh.

"Ready to talk about it, yet?" My mom asks. Her voice is soothing and warm. I look at the woman who raised me and smile. Her warm brown eyes are a boon when I feel like my whole life is turning upside down. I lean back against her and lay my head on her shoulder again.

"I think things are a little more complicated than I can deal with," I start.

"Your job?"

"No, my job is pretty straightforward. But this new relationship I'm in is very intense." I don't look at my mom as I admit this. I just stare at the cup in my hands.

"New relationships are often overwhelming at first. Your generation doesn't take things slowly, going from zero to 100 in minutes. Hard to keep your head on straight and things in perspective." She says. I love that she doesn't ask for specifics. What would I even be able to tell her?

"Overwhelming is a good way to describe it."

"How'd you meet?" she asks a normal question and at first I don't want to say, but in reality, this is the most normal part of the whole thing.

"At the club. He asked me to dance." I smile as I remember that night and the handsome man who pulled me away from a harassing Marcus and made my breath catch with his handsomeness.

"I take it that he's good-looking?"

"He's very good-looking. They all are," I sigh.

"They all are?" My eyes widen as I realize what I've just said. How do I explain?

"Um, yeah. He has 6 friends who... Um... like me, too." My mom leans back a little so she can look me in the eyes. I raise my head to look at her and all I see in my mom's face is surprise.

"Are you dating 7 men?" her eyebrows could get lost in her hair they are raised so high. I can't tell her everything, but maybe, I need to get some of this off my chest. I have to tell somebody. I can't hold onto all this stress by myself.

"I'm not sure. We all like each other, but they seem to think they aren't good enough for me." I murmur, holding the cup of hot chocolate. Watching it cool in my hands. I can't quite look my mother in the eyes as I admit this.

"What do you think?" She asks.

"They are amazing, Mom. Every one of them is an amazing man all on their own. Together, they are a force to be reconded with. They have unbelievable challenges to overcome, and yet they meet those challenges and find ways to still succeed."

I see my mom smile at the tone of my voice. She hasn't said a word about what she thinks about all this. But that's my mom, she waits until she knows what is going on before telling me what she thinks of it.

"If they are so amazing, why do they think they aren't good enough?"

"They all suffer from a...condition... That makes having an actual relationship with people difficult. I'm the first person they've met who knows the truth and loves them anyway."

"They all have the same condition?"

"They do, it's what brought them together." Mom nods her head as she listens.

"So you've tried to have a relationship with them, love them and they are keeping you at arm's length?"

"They seem to think that their condition is fatal to me and so want me to keep away from them," I huff.

"You are upset by this?" Mom states.

"Of course, I am." I rant. "We promised to find a cure together. To fight the challenges of their condition together and now they are shutting me out."

My mom just watches me, listening to me and I feel the stress bubble up and my mouth pours it all out. I can't be specific, of course, but relationships are relationships. I spill all my stress and anxiety to my mom. To that person who has always been there for me when I needed her. When I needed her perspective and guidance. When I needed to just get it all off my chest, my mom has always been that anchor for me.

"That is a lot of anxiety you are nursing," She comments. I flip around to stare at her. "Let me see if I got the gist of the situation. You love these 7 men, but their condition makes it difficult to be close with them and to feel connected to them, right?" I just nod. "So you've forced a couple of intimate moments that scared them and put everyone in danger. Danger to your own life, and danger to their emotional well-being by risking the very person they value most? Does that sound like I have it?"

My mouth drops open. "Mom, are you telling me you agree with them?" I'm stunned. My mother siding with my guys?

My mom opens her arms and I drop onto the couch and snuggle in. "Oh, baby girl. You have so much to learn." she sighs.

"I"m not a baby anymore, Mom." I huff.

"No, you're not. You are a brilliant person who has never had a serious relationship who finds herself in a difficult one. One compounded by including 7 other people instead of just 1."

My mom's level voice calms me even though there is a part of me that really wanted her to take my side and be outraged on my behalf. My frown does not go unnoticed.

"As your Mom, I should be on your side, but I find that I like these boys of yours. They have made you their first priority. As a mother, I can't disagree with that." I turn to face her, giving thought to the weight of her words as I think about her point of view.

"First, is this condition AIDS?" My eyebrows raise.

"No, it's not AIDS," I reassure her.

"But it's something like that, right? Something that infects their saliva, blood, and other bodily fluids?" she asks.

"Yes, that about sums it up," I confirm.

"Then baby girl, you are being reckless and your boys are doing the right thing." She says simply.

"WHAT?" I yell. "How can you take that attitude? They basically broke up with me because I wanted to be able to hug them." I get off the couch and pace out my agitation. How could my mother take their side?

My mother chuckles, "I seriously doubt this is all over a hug." She gets up from the couch. "Ever since you were small, and especially once you went on that field trip, you have been single-mindedly working to get back to that forest. You have loved it with unwavering devotion since you were 8 years old."

"So?" Where is my mom going with this?

"From listening to you, I don't think you are being objective to the situation you find yourself in. You are so bowled over by the new relationship you're in, that is deep within the forest you love, that all thoughts of safety have blown out the window." She places a hand on my shoulder and the other on my cheek. "If what you say about them is true, then they truly love you and don't want you in danger. And since you are trying to force intimacy, you have backed them into a corner. And a cornered person will do whatever it takes to be safe again."

I want to argue, but my mother's words give me pause. It's only been 7 days since the full moon. One week since Jungkook pulled me out onto that dancefloor. Everything has been a whirlwind ever since. So much has happened, could I honestly say that I've kept an objective head through all this?

No. No, I haven't.

How could anyone stay objective with everything that has happened in just the last week alone? I close my eyes and sigh. Forced to see things from another perspective always does this to me. Mom may not know about the curse, but she got to the heart of the matter anyway.

I feel my mom pat my cheek and I open my eyes. She takes a long look at me and smiles. "I think you'll be better now. You probably owe those boys an apology." She raises an eyebrow and then chuckles to herself. "Now, come on, let's make some cookies and you can maybe use them as a peace offering."

I hate that my mom is right, but I did come to her for advice. To get a safe outsider's perspective on what I thought of as so devastating. I guess I do owe them an apology. I sigh as I join my mom in the kitchen. We make a batch of my favorite treats and mom places them in a container that won't look overly girly. I can't help but chuckle. Jin would probably get a kick out of any kitchenware that was brightly colored.

I spend a few more hours with my mom, enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon with her, and then head back to the center.

I drive to the cabin, I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I'm not going to talk to them. I walk up to the door and place the bowl of treats with a note attached to an end table near the porch swing. I don't knock, I don't try to reason with them. I simply walk back to my car and drive away.

Hobi POV

I watch Y/N drive away. We meant it when we said we were going to keep her at arm's length. It was killing us to be away from her for even one day. I wondered how long we'd be able to deny ourselves her presence.

Once I'm sure she can't see us, I open the door and look over at the bowl of treats she left for us. I pick up the note and my heart beats a little more at her words. A smile spreads over my face.

I'm sorry for backing you into a corner

I will try to be patient

I love you.

Y/N

A hand reaches over my arm to snag a treat. I look over to see Jungkook munching away. His eyes closed as he inhales the treat. A smile on his face.

"She's the best, isn't she?" he murmurs with a mouth full of food.

"Yes, she really is." I agree.