Santana turned his keychain over, finding the pink key that Bria gave him to unlock her door. He never really used it since she usually just left the door open for him, but she'd been ignoring him ever since he went to Jersey three days ago.

He took his shoes off and put them on her guest rack before heading back to her bedroom. He could hear a movie playing on her TV so he knew she was here because she normally turned everything off when she left.

It was a little uncommon for her to be up this early though. Her days habitually started around noon, and it was currently eight in the morning and raining. She usually slept through the rain, more often than not, actually.

Bria looked up from her phone when he walked in her room, and her face almost lit up at the sight of him but then she remembered that she was supposed to be mad. She couldn't deny how much she'd missed him though.

"I don't want that Tana." She mumbled after seeing him place some money on her nightstand, and then she dodged his kiss too.

He really hated dealing with her attitudes because Bria was so spoiled, but he knew that she had a genuine reason to be mad this time.

"Let me go take a shower first and then I'll fix it, that's cool?" He stood over her, and she nodded her head because she could smell the scent of outside on him from her bed.

As soon as the bathroom door closed, Bria lifted up from her pillows to grab the money that was on her dresser. She could see ten of the brown colored bands in the stack, which meant that it was $50,000.

Now, she wasn't unappreciative or anything but she really didn't want this money; which was saying something because Bria would never turn down money.

Santana never carried this much cash on hand, and she could see even more of it in the duffle bag next to the bed that he'd brought with him. That meant he must've done a pretty big drug job to make this much on one go.

By turning down the money, she wanted him to know that she really didn't support him being in the drug game this heavily. The police in New York already had him on their list to randomly pull over and search just because of his status, but it was like Santana didn't even care about the chance of him getting locked up because he kept doing stuff like this.

"No kiss, still?" He came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later with only a pair of boxers on and a small frown on his face.

Bria lifted her head up, holding the left side of his face once their lips met. She wanted to be so upset with him but she couldn't help but to be relieved that he'd made it back home safe to her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck when he picked her up from the bed, and then he laid down in her spot with her on top of him. Neither of them let the other go, obviously missing each other's presence over the last few days.

"I know you be tryna help me out but it's just some shit I can't let go of right now B. Even if I tried to explain it to you, you won't be able to get where I'm coming from 'cause you ain't never had to do the shit I do."

"And I try to make sure you don't even be aware when I go handle business, but this shit real life for me. This ain't no Instagram shit or nothin', you know I do it for real. I got people to take care of mama. And I can't do it off just legal money. You know I would if I could." He rubbed the small of her back, but then he stopped after hearing her sniff.

Bria never cried. If she ever did it was usually over small stuff, and was always when it was that time of the month. She was one of those people who hated when other people saw her so vulnerable, just like Santana. So he knew she was genuinely upset with him and that hurt his feelings.

He rubbed his hand down his face out of frustration when she got off of him, hearing the bathroom door shut a few seconds later. This was so hard for him because he never felt the need to explain anything that he did until he got with her. Nobody cared enough, except her.

Santana took care of so many people; his parents that really didn't want anything to do with him if he wasn't giving them money, his granny, a bunch of his friends that were locked up, some kids from his hood that depended on him because their parents wasn't there enough, and Bria.

The only two people who genuinely appreciated him and not just for his money was Bria and his grandmother. His mom did sometimes, but his dad always ended up getting in her head about Santana and made him out to be some kind of fuck-up.

He didn't risk his life everyday for the fun of it. It was too many people around him that he didn't want to let down, just out of the kindness of his heart. He hated when people failed him and he wanted to make sure that he didn't fail the ones who depended on him to survive.

He just wished Bria could understand that.

"I'm sorry B. I be trying so hard not to fuck up with you, man." He said the last part mostly to himself, now leaning against the bathroom door since it was locked.

Bria knew that most would probably consider her crying overreacting, but she really loved Santana with every part of her and it would break her heart if something happened to him. He was like the other half of her, so there was no her without him.

She'd been through so much with him over the last three years; from shootouts that ended up with him in the hospital fighting for his life, to being the one to testify for his freedom that time he was locked up for almost six months, to holding him while he cried over the death of his younger sister. That few occasions didn't even come close to half of what they'd been through together.

Every time he went away to go do something that could possibly end up with him in prison or in a graveyard, Bria thought about how all the time they'd spent together could one day be just a distant memory, and how their time together could end over one dumb decision.

A continuous decision to risk his life that he didn't have to make.

Bria knew that he had people to take care of and it pissed her off that people couldn't handle themselves so that Santana wouldn't have to do it for them. A lot of the people he took care of were grown ass adults-or kids that had grown ass parents. And Santana was only one person.

She knew it was selfish to want him to herself, but she didn't care. He could go broke today and she'd still be his best friend tomorrow, but how many of the others could say the same? They only needed him for money but Bria needed him to keep her heart beating, as corny as it sounded.

She loved him more than anything, and she just didn't want to lose him over the life he lived.

"Don't be crying 'cause of me, Bria. I'ma chill for a few weeks, okay? I ain't gon' go back out B." He looked down at her once the door opened, seeing that her face was now mostly dry of tears.

"That's not enough Santana. And I don't even know how to explain it to you without crying so I don't wanna talk about it anymore." She mumbled, hearing her own voice crack mid-sentence.

"Bria c'mon on man. You not even trying to understand where I'm coming from. You think I wanna keep doing this shit? I would've quit months ago but I can't! Ain't nobody gon' take care of my people if I stop Bria. What the fuck you want me to do? Fail them just like niggas been expecting me to do anyway?"

"Yes! If they already expecting you to do it then just do it. They don't fucking care about you Santana! If you die today they gon' go leech off the next nigga who promised to take care of them tomorrow. You don't owe nobody nothing and it's like you purposely choose not to understand that." She attempted to push past him, but he grabbed her arms to stop her from leaving the bathroom.

"It's not that simple mama." His voice softened because he hadn't even meant to yell at her, and he knew that she'd only yelled because he'd done it first.

"Yes it is but you so caught up in trying to be everybody's hero that you don't see that all you have to do is stop. You don't have to have so much on your plate at one time Santana. It's okay to force them to be responsible for themselves. Half of 'em grown anyway-and the kids I understand but everybody else, you don't have to do shit for them."

"I love you. And I know I'm being selfish by asking you to stop but I don't want nothing happening to you Tana. You deserve more than just becoming a stereotype for some people who don't give a damn about where you end up."

Santana wrapped his arms around her neck, and hers went around his torso as he consoled her while she cried. She wanted so much better for him and it hurt her feelings that he couldn't have better because he was too busy making sure everybody else had it.

"I love you." He kissed the top of her head, holding her body close to his as she continued to cry quietly on his chest.

Santana walked in Bria's bedroom with two bouquets of flowers, some snacks, a bag of food from Wingstop, and a box of period panties because Bria coincidentally was on her period. He knew her too well.

She ended up crying herself to sleep a couple hours ago, and he left out to get her some stuff that would hopefully make her feel better.

After sitting the stuff down on the nightstand, he plugged up her heating pad into the outlet nearest her, and then he wrapped the pad around her torso to help soothe her cramps.

"Thank you Tana." She mumbled, removing her hand off of her stomach.

"You welcome. Sit up so you can eat." He fixed the pillows she was laying on, and moved her body pillow on the opposite side since it was in his spot.

"Santana," She smiled, grabbing his face to stop him after his tenth kiss.

"I love you girl." He chuckled, pulling his hoodie from over his head. He took his sweats off and put both items in her hamper before climbing in the bed with her.

"You haven't been to sleep Santana?" Bria looked over at him after opening her wing combo, seeing his arm thrown over his eyes.

"Nah. Can't sleep without my baby." He told her, and she smiled, watching him move lower so that he could wrap his arm around her thighs.

It only took Bria around ten minutes to finish her food-one thing about her, she could down some Wingstop in no time. Mango habanero boneless wings with Louisiana voodoo fries was one of her favorite meals.

She looked at the top of her screen as she drunk from her Dr Pepper, seeing that Israel was calling her. She lightly pressed two of her fingers down on Santana's neck to feel his pulse, feeling how slow it was compared to his normally steady one which meant that he was asleep.

She wouldn't consider herself cheating on him since the two of them had always made it clear that they weren't together, and she knew plenty of women who'd spent time with him during the last year they'd been fooling around, so she was sure that Santana wouldn't make it an issue if she was to tell him that she was seeing someone else sexually.

But she didn't want to make it a conversation at all just in case he had the opposite reaction since they'd definitely gotten closer than ever the last few weeks.

Plus, that's all it was between her and Israel-sex. The only man she had real feelings for was Santana.

"You ever heard of texting, Israel?" She said with a smile as the call connected; he literally had never sent a text to her before, nor responded to hers. He'd call right after she texted though.

"That take too much time. Talking is quicker."

"I guess. What you calling for boo? You miss me already?" She rubbed Santana's head, snickering at herself.

"Something like that. I wanted to ask you out on a date tomorrow. You gone be busy?" He asked, putting a smile on her face.

"Nope. What kind of date we talkin'?"

"I gotta fly to Miami at one for an auction and I need a date to get in. I'm definitely not taking Jada..decided to ask my mistress instead." He referred to her title from the other day, making her laugh.

"Okay, sure, I'm down. I have to get my hair and makeup done early then. You'll pay?"

"Mhm. Your driver ah' be there at twelve to take you to the airport. Don't pack. I'll take you shopping when we land-the auction not 'til eight. I'll pay you to spend the weekend." He told her, and her smile spread further. Being paid for a vacation, she loved her life.

"Sounds good to me sugar daddy. I'll see you tomorrow." She replied, ending the call after a few more words about tomorrow.

She went to Instagram right after the call to text her hairstylist who also happened to be a part time makeup artist, booking an appointment for early morning tomorrow.

At the same time that she sent her deposit, she got a notification from Chase saying that Israel had sent her two thousand dollars to get ready for tomorrow.

In the chase app also showed that a large check was clearing, but wouldn't completely clear until two days from now. She knew that Santana had deposited that cash from earlier into her account despite her saying she didn't want it, making her shake her head with a small smile. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

Bria went ahead and wired her sister the entire fifty even though it hadn't cleared yet, but her bank account was big enough to where that fifty wouldn't even put a dent in it. Her sister would forever be good as long as she was.

Unlike Bria, Journey worked an actual job as one of the head pediatric nurses at Mount Sinai's Children's Hospital in New York City. And while that job paid well, Bria's antics paid more, so she'd often send her sister money to make sure she was good. Then her sister would call to cuss her out about wasting money on her.

Like clockwork, Bria's phone rung just a few seconds later.

"Nicole what is wrong with you? What the hell you even do to be able to send me a free fifty?! Bria!" She started her usual fussing rant, earning a smile from Bria.

"I didn't do nothing girl. Tana gave it to me and I gave it to you. That's free rent for a year and you're complaining?" She chuckled.

"No but Bria! Oh my god. Maybe I need to change professions, shit." Journey shook her head, listening to her little sister laugh.

"You do, especially before my nephew get here."

Journey was eight months pregnant with her first child-even though she kept saying he was really her second because Bria would forever be her first baby.

She planned to work up until the day she gave birth despite both Bria and her husband, Lance, telling her not to. She claimed that she didn't want to put too much financial strain on Lance since they'd have only a one income household until their baby was three months old and Journey could go back to work.

Bria thought it was stupid that she could only take twelve weeks of maternity leave-and it was unpaid, at that. Her sister worked her ass off to get to where she was, and she worked twelve hour shifts four days a week with no breaks. She deserved more than just three months with her baby, but if she stayed away from work for longer than that, she could lose her job.

So, Bria offered to take care of her sister and nephew until Journey decided to return to work. She didn't care if that was years from now. Journey risked her life taking care of Bria while being a child herself, while their mom did who knows what with God knows who, so Bria felt like she owed it to her anyway.

Unfortunately her older sister was stubborn as hell.

"I'm not leaving the hospital girly pop. You can stop hinting at that." Journey chuckled, putting the call on speaker so that she could finish washing dishes.

"I'm not saying you have to forever, but maybe you can do something easier until Jr get like two or three. He deserves his mommy full time. Not three days a week. Hell, we seen momma more than that. I mean she was drunk or high all the time but still."

"Oh bitch please hoe. Don't try to guilt trip me. I did fine raising you with a job and I'll do the same with him B. And plus, his daddy will be here the twelve hours that I'm not. He has two parents, remember? We didn't." Journey replied, and Bria chuckled at the last part.

"Okay sista. I'm just saying. You know I got you if you ever change your mind." Bria covered her mouth as she yawned, getting further underneath her covers.

"I know it."

Swat is so good y'all. Y'all need to watch it.