18. honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure

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title quote by: james altucher

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hey this starts with someone throwing up, so if you get squeamish about that stuff please skip the first two ish paragraphs!

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As soon as his eyes cracked open the next morning Jungkook had pushed himself from the bed with a choked groan. His stomach lurched and his instincts propelled him out of the bedroom to the bathroom just down the hall. His knees hit the tiled floor just as he emptied his stomach, an awful lurch of his insides as he coughed into the bowl. A heavy hand curled around the back of neck and he sighed, the tension in his shoulders relaxed as Taehyung settled on the floor behind him.

"Easy, darling," he said quietly as he stroked a hand down his spine, "don't hold it in." Jungkook could only whine as he leaned back over the bowl. He'd had bouts of nausea for the last week or so but always during the day, usually when a certain smell or taste didn't agree with him. Of course even though it was expected that didn't mean the idea of morning sickness wasn't a pleasant one. "Do you feel better?" The alpha asked but Jungkook could only groan and sag against the toilet, the porcelain cool against his suddenly clammy skin. The blonde stood up and Jungkook listened as the water turned on and off before he knelt back down, a wet washcloth between his fingers. "Can you sit up for me?"

Gentle fingers wiped off his face and pushed his hair out of his eyes; the alpha always took care of him so well, he thought with a small smile. "Thank you, Tae." He said when his mate gave him a look, and he only got a kiss to the cheek and a soft laugh in response.

"This is nothing, darling." Taehyung said lowly, he reached out to help the omega to his feet and wrapped his arms around his waist as he sluggishly brushed his teeth. "You're carrying our baby, Jungkook," he kissed over the mate mark on his neck, where his own bite was clearly seen above his old mess of scars, "the coddling is only gonna get more extreme." Jungkook laughed around his toothbrush and leaned back into his chest. They fell silent as Taehyung took his place when he was done, already too awake to go back to bed again, and shuffled their way to the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" He asked as he cracked open the fridge but Jungkook shook his head.

"Don't think I could keep it down." He said shrugged and his alpha nodded and moved to grab him some water. Jungkook watched him move around silently as he shoved bread into the toaster, grabbed a couple cups for both of them. One hand drifted down to rub at the barely there swell of his stomach, and then his thoughts were suddenly overcome with what had happened the night before. Even if they set aside the things they still needed to talk about there was the issue of who the fuck had popped into their house last night. His brow furrowed at the memory of the woman, the woman he had thought he knew.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Jungkook startled and his head snapped up to see Taehyung's concerned face as he leaned over the counter. "What?"

"You looked like you were in pain." His hand stretched out to squeeze his free hand on the cold counter top and the alpha's head tilted in thought. "What's wrong?" Jungkook hadn't even noticed that the toaster had already popped, the slightly burnt pieces already in between them just the way his alpha liked.

"I worked with her." He started, and Taehyung's eyes narrowed. It was obvious who he was referring to and his mate circled around to take the stool next to his. "She'd worked there months longer than me, she trained me on how to use everything- I didn't even know ." He cut himself off with a huff and turned to frown at the older man. "Please tell me that was just a coincidence."

Taehyung chewed on his lip for a second as he thought before he shook his head. "I think I can say with some certainty that it wasn't a coincidence." His long fingers idly broke apart the bread and as he slowly chewed he continued. "I didn't say anything last night because we were both already so exhausted, mentally and physically, but she didn't actually make me have a vision." Jungkook blinked in shock but didn't say anything, the hand on his stomach rubbed across his hips almost instinctively. "It was more of a...conversation?" He started to explain but he slowly trailed off as his eyes caught the small movement.

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"Tae?" Jungkook called when he noticed he wasn't continuing, and the alpha's eyes snapped up to his. The blue seemed brighter, more startling against his tan skin and platinum hair.

"I didn't realize you had started to show already." He whispered and the omega was stunned to hear what he was almost sure was shame in his voice. What in the world would he have to be ashamed about? "Now that I know I can tell that you even smell a little different now, I don't know..." He stood up, food forgotten, and then crouched down so he could wrap his arms around his mate's waist. He gently rested his forehead against his stomach with a heavy sigh. "I'm so sorry I didn't notice before. I should have noticed that something was wrong. I thought maybe you were just stressed about the Challenge, or that maybe the pack was becoming too stressful in general."

Jungkook frowned at the idea. He loved the pack, loved that he had a place to call home and a mate to call him, loved that he finally had friends he could count on and that would protect him as fiercely as he would them. "Baby," the alpha let out a small noise at the endearment, "I didn't tell you because I was scared for myself, and you. I don't care about the Challenge, I mean I do but I don't care that you're going to fight." He clarified, and Taehyung looked up in surprise. Jungkook pushed his fingers through his hair and leaned down to kiss his forehead with a sigh, a sound the alpha repeated softly. "You know alphas tend to scare me, I won't hide that, and yes sometimes the fact you guys are so ready to hurt others is a bit...scary."

"Jungkook-."

"But-" The omega interrupted and Taehyung's lips pursed as he stared at him, expression clearly torn, "don't think that I don't want to be here, with you." His free hand rose to trace the mark on his neck and Taehyung's eyes followed the small movement closely. "I love you, Tae." He said softly. "I know how busy you've been with the Convergence and I understand that, and just because you couldn't tell doesn't mean that you suddenly care for me any less. You love me?" He asked rhetorically, and the alpha surged up to kiss him fiercely, one hand at his side as the other cupped his cheek.

"I love you more than I ever thought I could love another person." His alpha whispered against his lips and Jungkook smiled at the answer.

"That's all I need."

They didn't lean away, if anything Taehyung just moved closer so they were pressed even tighter against each other. He looked as if he wanted to say something, and then thought against it, only to shake his head and shift to kiss his temple. "You can't bottle things up anymore, my love." He suddenly demanded, although he kept his voice soft and his tone even. "I don't mean you need to tell me everything, you're allowed secrets, but you can't hold all of these worries on yourself."

That empty feeling in his chest had faded since they'd reunited but Jungkook's eyes squeezed shut as he remembered the sudden realization that he couldn't feel the older man anymore. The ensuing panic over that, the dread that his end was coming sooner than anyone had ever thought, the anxiety when his pregnancy had been confirmed. "I'm sorry." It was all he could offer when he'd shed all of his tears and Taehyung shook his head.

"It's okay, really, darling. You don't even need to tell me , I don't care if you tell Jimin or even some random human in the city, or if you just write it down somewhere. You're too precious to me, Kook, both of you. I can't..." Taehyung's entire body suddenly shuddered and Jungkook gasped when he felt the telltale wetness of tears, he leaned back to see the alpha violently wipe at his eyes. "I can't lose my family again, baby." He forced out and Jungkook didn't hesitate to reach up and gently swipe his fingers across his cheeks to catch stray tears.

They'd never talked about it at length before, when Taehyung had lost his parents. He knew it had happened, and that Baekhyun had done it, but that had been the extent of it. Jungkook couldn't say he truly knew how he felt, if he was honest. He hadn't had the most supportive relationship with his family and other than the crushing emptiness of his former pack bond he hadn't felt the loss of his parents too hard, as cruel as it sounded. "You won't lose us." He said with a smile, although tinged with an echo of his mate's sadness. "We have a big strong Alpha to take care of us."

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