Three Days Later. | 1:57am

Jayda laid awake in her bed, her head resting on her arms as she listened to thunder crash just outside of her window.

It was nearing two in the morning, and she still hadn't been able to fall asleep, when usually-she was asleep by 10pm.

She sighed, trying to stop the thoughts that racked through her mind, currently stressing her out. She grabbed her phone from the dresser, dialing Nau'Jour's number, hoping he wasn't asleep.

He had flew to New York yesterday for a feature, and wouldn't be back until tomorrow and she already missed him so much. Once it rung out twice in a row, a pout rested on her face.

She wiped the tear that fell from her eye, burying her face into her pillow. Overthinking always made her sad, and Nau'Jour was usually there to help her calm herself down. She hated when he was away.

She lifted her head as Cyncere began to turn in his sleep, currently cuddled up to her side since she literally could not sleep alone. Plus, he was afraid of thunderstorms so he slept with her every time it stormed.

"Mommy?" His voice called, and she pulled her head down a bit so that her face was near his.

"I'm right here Papa. Are you okay?" She rubbed over his face, and he nodded.

"Nana?" He sniffed, and her pout remained, kissing his forehead. Nau'Jour was usually the one to stay up and comfort him during the storms since he didn't like the rain either.

"He's sleeping right now baby. Come here." She pulled him closer, and he laid his head on her bare chest, reaching up to rub her ear.

"Mommy you okay?" He asked, half asleep, and she chuckled. She asked him that so much, that he'd begun to return the favor and asked her every chance he got.

"Yes baby. I'm okay. Go to sleep Papa." She kissed his cheek, and he nodded, slowly letting her ear fall from between his small fingers as he dozed off.

She could soon hear his light snores, and she sighed, wishing she could sleep as good as him right now. She hated being up by herself.

She laid Cyncere down after a few minutes, getting up to go pee. After handling her business, she pulled an oversized shirt on over her boxers, walking to the kitchen to get her a snack.

Before she could enter the kitchen, her doorbell rung, making her halt in her tracks. She grabbed her gun from behind a picture frame that hung on her wall, taking it off safety.

She looked in her camera, before sighing in relief, placing her gun back where it was. She turned her locks, swinging her door open.

"Somethin' told me to come over," Von's voice rasped, holding up a bag of takeout from iHop, his hoodie on to protect him from the rain.

She gestured him inside, closing the door once he was in, turning the locks once more.

"It's two in the morning." She said after turning to face him.

"I know, I'm sorry. Should I go?" He asked, already regretting his decision. Hearing thunder crash, she shook her head.

"No, it's fine. Uh, you can sit down." She gestured him over to the couch, and he took his shoes off at the door, following her to the couch.

He sat next to her, holding out the bag of food, and she took it from him with a small smile, folding her legs under her.

"Thank you. Are you okay?" She asked, texting Nau'Jour that he was there, then locking her phone.

"Yeah. I was just driving around to clear my mind at first, and ended up over here. I didn't mean to intrude or nothin', so my bad ma. I ain't really like how our last conversation ended though." He told her, watching as she put the straw in her cup of strawberry lemonade.

"I know you tired of having the same conversation wit' me, but we always end it at the same point and never take it any further. Can we talk about it?" He asked, and she looked over at him.

"What is there to talk about? You've apologized and been forgiven. I don't understand why we keep going back to that topic." She opened up the bag, pulling out a styrofoam container that held a loaded ham and cheese omelette with a side of strawberry French toast, making her stomach growl.

"You haven't forgave me Jay. You ain't even got over it yet." He mumbled, and she didn't respond, cutting her omelette in half because she knew that she wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing.

"Can you just be mad at me? Be angry Jayda and tell me how you feel. Talk to me." His eyebrows were furrowed, and again, she didn't respond.

"It was probably a mistake coming over here man." He stood up from the couch, grabbing his hoodie that he had pulled off.

"Dayvon what do you want to hear?" She frowned, feeling herself becoming aggravated.

"Jayda I left you by yourself after you gave everything that you had for me. I left and didn't say shit, I cheated every day, used up your savings, got you pregnant-and dipped. And youn got nothing to say?" He urged, his head tilting a bit, and he watched her jaw unintentionally clench, letting him know that he'd gotten under her skin.

"Whatever psychological tactic you think you're using is about to get your ass beat. Keep playing." She muttered, eating a strawberry from her French toast.

"Even after everything you did, all the shit you just named, I still didn't leave you. I stayed through all of it, not once did I step out on you or tell you no when you asked for something. I still never left after a year of you breaking me down."

"I begged you to stay Dayvon. I begged-and I wasn't even the one in the wrong. Do you know how bad you made me feel? I hated myself for so damn long. Wondering what I should've done better to make you stay, to make you love me. Why? Why couldn't you just love me? What was wrong with me?" She asked, picking at her food, she didn't even feel like eating anymore.

"I can't believe you'd let a broke bum ass nigga like me make you feel like that. Jayda you had everything; a good head on your shoulders, you had the money, the knowledge, you was-and still are, so perfect. I was a fucking bum and I don't know where I even got the audacity to treat you like that from." He told her, and a sad chuckle left her lips.

"Because I loved you, for you. I didn't care about you not having money. Dayvon, we slept in fucking boxes for weeks. I've slept in the Walmart warehouse with you while it was five degrees outside and 20 in the building."

"You were the strongest person I knew. You took on so much as a kid, and you risked so much for me. When I got older, I just wanted to return the favor. I never wanted anything in return, I just loved to see you happy the way that you did me."

"I put you over myself countless of times, but it would never compare to how much you did it for me. That's the Von that I know. The one who adored me and took care of me, I was your baby Von. And that's the only Von I knew, so when you did a complete 360, it threw me for a loop."

"I was never able to understand why I was being treated the way that I was, because you had never acted that way towards me before. The blatant disrespect and disregard to my feelings that happened time after time, I didn't give a fuck about any of that because I was holding on to the hope that my best friend would come back. And you never did. You never came back Cyn." A lone tear slipped out of her eye, and she quickly wiped it away. She was tired of crying over the same situation.

She thought she had been got over this, but every time it was brought back up, she was taken back to the same place she fought so hard to get out of.

She looked over, watching him wipe his face with his sleeve, seeing the tears that streamed down his face. He felt so bad and he just wanted to fix it. He missed the old them.

"I was so lost when you left Von. It felt like my heart had got ripped out of my body, and even knowing that I wasn't to blame, I constantly asked myself what I could've done better. All of me belonged to you, and all I wanted from you was to love me." She mumbled, kind of in disbelief with how naive her younger self was.

"I took everything from you and I never even thanked you. I wouldn't have shit that I have now without you. I'm so fucking sorry Jayda." He scoffed at himself, moving his dreads from his face.

"When I started getting recognition in the city, it made me so happy that people was seeing the talent that I had. All I told myself every day is 'just wait til I blow, me and Jayda gone live good'. That's all that me and you ever wanted was for life to be easy again."

"A life where we didn't have to worry about if we'd eat, or have some heat in the cold, or get some money from strangers to make it by. I couldn't wait to give you that shit Jayda. You've always been so perfect to me, and that was the only life that I felt like you deserved."

"You was always so happy, no matter what we were going through. Everything was cupcake and rainbows to you, and you only ever saw the good in me. I'm sorry I couldn't fit those standards Jay. I regret what I did every day. I wish that I could just go back in time and do it right."

"People was telling me all kinds a' shit, and the music I was listening to was telling me don't trust bitches, get money, don't nobody love me, I'm alone-dumb ass shit like that. And I believed it. It was repeated to me so often that unintentionally, I began to listen to that shit."

"The 'coolest' things to do back then was to have hoes, have the flashy clothes, be the biggest on the block-you know? I was trying to please other people and give them this perception of me, when I didn't even know them mufuckas, and they shole didn't know me."

"You was the only person that ever cared Jay. Everything that you had was mine, and I knew it. You had your savings for so long, ever since you was thirteen and was doing the after school tutoring. You saved for years, and every damn dime you gave to me so that I could pursue my dreams."

"Your heart is so damn big Jay, and I took advantage of that without even realizing. I was all that you knew, and you had been my baby for so long man. I know that it hurt when I started to change, and I'm so sorry. I ain't never regretted so much shit in my life man I was so down on my dick."

"You stayed down from the beginning, and trusted me with everything in you that one day we would live good together. That I'd be able to provide you the life that you deserved. You didn't see no bad in me ever after all that I did. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't give you that after all the false promises I made, I'm sorry for leaving you after you gave everything for me, I'm sorry that I couldn't be who I should've been for you. I know sorry won't fix shit, but I don't know what else to do ma. I don't know how to fix it." His voice cracked a bit, looking over at her with his bloodshot eyes.

"I didn't deserve that shit Von. All I ever did was be good to you. I just want you to love me." She broke down, and he wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry on his shoulder.

"I did love you and I still do. I just had a hard time showing it. I should've did better baby. I'm so sorry." He rubbed her back, sighing as he listened to her cry because of his actions.

"You were so good to me Jay. The shit I put you through would've made anybody fold, and you held on for me. I love you so much man don't never forget that shit. Anybody who know you lucky to have you, you hear me? You so perfect baby. I love you forever. I don't give a fuck about shit else, about the way nobody feel except you. You love me Jay? Tell me that you still got that love for me ma." He wiped her face, staring into her tear filled brown orbs that looked up into his.

"I don't know how I feel about you anymore." She sniffed, placing her face in his neck, and he sighed, using the back of his hand to wipe his face.

"Jayda I know you love me. Tell me please." He wanted so badly to hear those words from her. He knew that she was one of the only people who meant it when they said it.

"I still love my best friend. I love you. I'm sorry." She mumbled, and he felt as if his heart would explode. The love he had was her was unexplainable.

"I love you so much. I'ma fix it, okay? We gone be good fat mama." He held tight around her waist, and she nodded, believing him.

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