"Hi, honey! Look at you, healing so well." Tyler's mother, Veronica, gently grabbed his face to kiss his cheek before walking into the house with her husband at her side.

"It's nice to see you son. You missed church Wednesday, we were looking forward to hearing you." David's deep voice filled the space of the living room as they walked in together.

"Yeah..I couldn't be seen with my face like that. I didn't want anybody asking questions." He locked the door behind them, mentally wondering why they were here.

It was a few minutes before eight in the evening and he'd just gotten home from work. He was not in the mood to socialize with his parents right now.

"Have the police caught him yet? Or figured out who he is?" Veronica asked.

Truthfully, Tyler never went to the police. He didn't know the man's name and though he knew what building and floor he lived on, Tyler didn't know which door out of the twenty-eight on that floor was his. It would just be an endless manhunt that the police would probably never participate in.

He'd only told his family that to get them off of his back about it. Honestly, he wish they'd never found out. The only reason they knew was because his little brother, Jace, told them about it. He shouldn't have called Jace either.

The whole situation was overwhelmingly embarrassing to him. He'd even signed up to take weekly boxing classes because he refused for that to happen a second time. He'd never been in a physical altercation besides with his brothers when they were younger and that was unfortunately very obvious.

As his mother had said though, thankfully, he healed well. The bruises on his face had lightened and the skin around his eyes were back to their normal color, but the sclera—the white part—of his eyes still had bloodshot streaks in them. But, his ego was still undoubtedly bruised.

"No.. they're looking. What are y'all doing here though? Did I forget about something?" Tyler asked. He normally didn't mind them popping up unannounced but this just hadn't been a good week for him.

Living in the same house as his wife that currently wasn't acting like his wife and not being able to do anything about it was literally a living hell. The eight circle of it, actually. He would've never imagined them being like this.

Nina hadn't cooked, washed his laundry, ironed his clothes, spoken to, kissed, slept in the same bed or even looked at Tyler in the last six days. These were the longest and most difficult six days of his life; it felt like an eternity.

Apparently, since he wouldn't file for divorce with her, she would just pretend like they weren't married. It would've worked better if she had the funds to get herself an apartment, but she was currently job searching to get that process started.

When she first told him about it, he didn't take her seriously. He thought she would ignore him for a day or two but would act normal besides that, but boy was he wrong. He had no idea how far she would take it and he didn't even notice all of the simple things that she did for him until now.

He went to work for nine hours every day and expected to come home to a home cooked meal and a sweet kiss from his wife like always, but instead he'd been surviving off of processed McDonald's and Burger King, as well as sleeping alone every night.

A literal living hell.

Still, he assumed this was just a hard bump in their relationship. He hoped that they'd be back to normal sooner rather than later. It was crazy that he missed her this much when they literally lived together.

"It's alright." David put his hand on his wife's leg to comfort her as sudden sadness grew in her face, making Tyler's eyebrows come together in a frown.

"The cancer is too strong for me to fight, Ty.. the radiation was doing more harm than good so they recommended that I get off chemo." She told him, ironically coughing blood into the napkin in her hand at the same time.

"What?" His frown deepened.

"They told me I have no more than six months left.. there's nothing else that can be done." She said with a small sigh.

Before he could respond, Nina walked out of their bedroom and came down the hall. She was dressed in a see through Jean Paul Gaultier dress that stopped at her mid thigh and showed off her black thongs and bra-less chest. She did cover her nipples with brown pasties though.

She wore black Givenchy shark boots and accessorized the look with a Mini Antigona leather bag from Givenchy as well, a dainty tennis necklace and lastly, a matching pair of earrings. She smelled like Billie Eilish's vanilla based perfume and her brown skin glistened from Canvas Beauty's donut scented body glaze.

It was more than out of the ordinary for her to wear something like this. Although Tyler had slight control over her outfit choices, she still bought and wore whatever she wanted most times, but she respected him enough to where none of it was provocative or as revealing as her current outfit.

She didn't care to take his opinions into consideration anymore though. In fact, she wore this on purpose.

"My God, Nina, what has gotten into you?!" David stood up from the couch, and Nina ignored him, walking past Tyler to get to the kitchen.

"Dad, sit down." Tyler pointed at him, and David directed his frown towards him but sat down anyway.

He followed Nina out the front door once she grabbed a small can of Red Bull and a mini bottle of cool blue Gatorade, closing the door behind them. He grabbed her arm to turn her around and blocked her with his body to prevent her from leaving.

"Just tell me where you're going." He knew that he couldn't get her to go back in and change, though he very well wanted to.

"Out. Clearly." She answered.

"How are you getting there?" He asked.

"Obviously not by my car 'cause you took my keys. Sooo, why does it matter?"

"Nina stop acting l—,"

"I don't know why I'm even talking to you. I'm grown as fuck." She pushed his arm out of the way to walk past him, and he rubbed his head in frustration as she walked to a familiar silver Kia that belonged to Zyriah.

He wouldn't admit it out loud but he hated the balls she'd grown within the last few weeks. The Nina from two months ago would ask if it was okay to go out, have him check her outfit before she left and update him on her whereabouts and the people near her by the hour.

Not having even a small amount of control over her was a bit nerve wracking and definitely annoying to say the least.

Really, he wouldn't even consider himself to be controlling. That word was too stern. He preferred the term traditional.

Tyler grew up watching his dad physically abuse his mom but swore to never be like him when he happened to get married. Unfortunately, some of David's characteristics still rubbed off on him and barely any of the good ones.

He thought that if he took care of his household financially and didn't put his hands on Nina, he would be considered a good husband. Since he provided for her and loved her—in his own way—he expected her to be a traditional wife as well. A wife who cooked, cleaned, respected and took care of her husband emotionally and sexually, whether she was in the mood for it or not.

It was a slap in the face to know that he was the complete opposite of a good husband but he was willing to change his ways if that meant Nina would stay with him. He loved her more than anything, believe it or not. He hated the thought of her being with someone else.

Speaking of, it still hadn't been confirmed that Nina cheated on him. There were a few signs that pointed towards it, but Tyler didn't have any actual evidence so he refused to believe it. He took her keys so that she wouldn't be able to see the man who came to their house and he also opted to work from home this week to keep an eye on her.

He called himself going through her phone when she was asleep last night but she'd changed her passcode and downloaded one of those apps that took a picture of the person who typed in the wrong pin.

This whole week stressed him out to the max. He couldn't wait to show Nina that he was willing to make drastic changes to become better so that things would go back to normal.

"Bitchhhhhh who are you and what have you done with my best friendddd?" Zyriah asked with a smile, pulling off after Nina was settled inside with her seatbelt on.

"The bitch is dead!" Nina mocked the infamous Facebook post made by Gypsy Rose, causing the two friends to fall out in laughter.

"No but for real, you a bad ass bitch. Like, a real bad ass bitch; you need a whooping."

"I'ma get one tonight, don't worry." Nina unlocked her phone, ironically going right to the thread with Samir that was a bit dry.

He was actually pretty upset with her right now because she'd been purposely ignoring him ever since she found out that he was the one who beat Tyler unconscious. He still didn't regret what he'd done and he would do it again if given the opportunity.

Although what Tyler did was close to unforgivable, Nina thought that Samir's actions were over the top and very uncalled for. She wouldn't have told him what happened if she would've known that he would blow it out of proportion like that. Confronting Tyler about it was one thing, but sending him to the hospital? That was entirely too much.

So, the two of them hadn't seen one another since Nina was dropped off last Wednesday morning. It was now the following Friday evening and Zyriah invited her out for dinner at this new black owned restaurant and hookah lounge that opened up downtown, just a few minutes away from Samir's condo.

Nina figured she would drop her attitude because she missed him more than anything and would most likely pass out if she had to go another day without seeing him.

As soon as she and Zyriah were seated in the restaurant, she sent a text to Samir to let him know that she'd call him once she was drunk so that he could come get her.

She declined the call from him that came through a few seconds after he read her text, then she put her phone on do not disturb, turned her ringer off, and muted the message thread.

"Ion even know why you doing all that. You gone call him soon as you get out yo' body." Zyriah shook her head at her just as Nina laughed, knowing damn well she was right.

"Girl hush. You don't know me." She waved her off, and their laughs quieted as the waiter approached them.

"Hey, welcome to Taste Kitchen and Bar. Can I get y'all started with some drinks today?" He held a notepad in his hand, ready to write down what they wanted. Nina ordered a pink lemonade alcohol infused drink, Zyriah went with her typical lemon drop, and they also ordered a round of Don Julio shots.

They also went ahead and ordered their food, which came out quicker than they expected. Nina ordered a rack of jerk marinated lamb chops with smoked Gouda mac and cheese and collard greens, while Zyriah ordered the same sides but changed her entree to fried lobster tails.

With six shots of Don Julio each plus their full cups of alcoholic beverages, it took no time at all for the two girls to get drunk. They sung along with the R&B music that played from the speakers while downing more shots, just enjoying their time together.

Nina really loved when Zyriah dragged her out the house. She loved these type of nights. It did a great deal for her mental health.

"The pics came out sooo cute best friend." Zyriah doubled tapped the post made on Nina's main instagram account before sharing it to her story.

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"Right? You deserve some ass for taking 'em." She got up from being leaned against the table, and Zyriah smiled, swiping right on Instagram to record Nina on her story.

"Mannn, gon' somewhere. Damn. When is yo' nigga coming to get yo' gay ass?" Zyriah's girlfriend, Ace, immediately pulled Nina back which made both of them laugh.

Since Zyriah was past drunk, she couldn't drive herself home and made her girlfriend Uber to the restaurant to take her car home. They were now waiting on Samir to come get Nina, though he hadn't texted her back. She knew he would still come anyway.

Proving her correct, he walked into the restaurant with his hood over his head a little over ten minutes after she texted him, holding his natural frown on his face. He didn't have to scope the scenery out for long before his eyes found hers, and he shook his head at the fact that he could visibly see how drunk she was.

"Ouuu, bye guys, my man here." Nina didn't even let them respond before she headed in his direction, meeting him halfway.

"Hi baby. I know you mad but can I have a kiss please? I missed you." She hiccuped in the middle of talking, then smacked her lips because that was the worst part about being drunk.

Samir lowered his head to her level, and she smiled as he gave her a kiss and pulled her dress down over her thighs at the same time. He indeed was still upset but he would never turn down a kiss. Her kisses were his favorite.

"It's raining." He pulled his hoodie from over his head and Nina tried hard to stay as still as possible while he put it on her. Not only was her head currently spinning, but so was everything else in her line of sight.

Thankfully, he parked right in front of the entrance so Nina only had to stumble a couple of feet to the passenger side. Samir helped her buckle in, clearly unfazed by the rain drenching his plain black shirt.

Once he got in on the other side, he pulled it off to prevent himself from becoming frustrated. He hated when his skin was wet, and a wet shirt stuck to his skin was even worse. He should've brought another jacket.

"Mir y—you not gon' talk to me?" She hiccuped.

"I'ma kill myself and put you in my note. This shit is fuckeddd upppp." She dragged out, letting her seat all the way back as her eyes became heavy.

Samir glanced over at her when she turned her body towards the door, bringing her feet up into the seat. The Jean Paul Gaultier dress rode up her thighs to rest on her waistline, and she pushed his hands away when he tried to cover her back up.

"What you got this on for?" He finally spoke to her, noticing the black thongs she wore.

"Leave me alone. I'm already dead." She murmured, close to dozing off already.

"You damn near naked."

"Stop cussing like you grown boy." She waved him off.

"I am."

"Can you shut up? I'm tryna go to sleep."

"Samir!" Her head then snapped up when he popped her thigh, and he continued looking out of the front windshield as if he hadn't done anything.

"Why didn't you get the braids?" He asked without acknowledging his previous actions.

"My stylist didn't have any abailabi—avalabitily—damn. Shit. What's that word? Oh my god. Am I saying it wrong?" Nina reached up to grab her tongue to hold it still, hoping that would fix her pronunciation.

"Availability?" He said for her.

"Oh my god, yes. That. She's a fake ass bitch. Do you know I offered to pay $100 for a squeeze in?" She looked over at him like she couldn't believe it herself.

"What she say?" Samir entertained her dramatics.

"That she gon' be out of town for two weeks. Why does she have a life?? I'm literally dying out here and she in Bora Bora shaking her ass. This crazy. I d—deserve so much better."

"I thought you knew how to braid." He glanced over at her while pulling into the parking garage of his complex.

"Yes b—but I don't wanna do it myself 'cause I want extra extra small knotless. You know how long that's gon' take me? Like—oh my goddd—three days. I don't have time for that. And I don't wanna take my nails off." She hiccuped again as she held up her hands to show off her long black frenchies set.

Samir could hear her still talking to herself about nothing in particular as he got out of the car and walked around to her side to help her out. Once he got her to stand up, he pulled her dress down again with a small frown on his face. He didn't like this dress.

"You so fine. If you seen a bitch badder than me, you gone give her some dick?" Nina rubbed over his chest that was visible since he was no longer wearing a shirt, and his frown deepened at her words.

"What are you talking about? Be quiet." He grabbed her purse before closing the door, wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her stable.

"No I'm serious. I would literally beat the fuck out of you and her. Really for real. Like with my right hand on the b—,"

"Nina I'm not going to do that. Be quiet." He said again.

"I didn't fight Brit 'cause she pregnant but soon as she drop I'm on her ass. Don't let me forget."

"Did you fight Tyler too?" He entertained her dramatics again.

"Sure the fuck did. But you—you fought him worse than me. Mir why would you do that? I d—I didn't even know you knew how to fight. I watched the ring camera and the whole time I was like this," She made her jaw drop on purpose, and Samir chuckled as he looked down at her.

"Mir for real, why? You love me that much? That's dangerous. I gotta get away from y—you." She hiccuped, holding on to him as they stepped on the elevator together.

"Was it really that bad? I feel like I didn't do much." He genuinely couldn't remember what he'd done; it happened too fast.

"Boy you broke his face. You b-blacked his eyes, broke his nose, busted his lip and his eyebrow—what you mean you didn't do much?"

"Oh..that's not really a lot. It doesn't compare to what he did to you." He shrugged.

"I can't believe you did that."

"I would do anything for you. I bet he won't touch you again." He kissed her forehead, and Nina wrapped her other arm around his torso to give him a hug.

"That's so real. Ugh. My man don't play 'bout meeeee," She leaned over and looked back at the mirror designed walls to watch herself twerk, still holding on to him.

Samir was distracted by two things; the first being that she'd just called him her 'man' for the first time and he loved the sound of that. The second was the way her butt was now on display since she only wore thongs and the dress refused to stay down to cover her up.

"Touch it. Stop staring." She stood back upright with a smile on her face, gazing up at him.

"You are so drunk." He had to hold her still to keep her from falling even though she wasn't doing anything but standing, and Nina's smile grew just as the elevator doors opened.

I really hate unoriginal ass bitches. Y'all wouldn't believe how many times ppl dm me to show me sb stealing my work. I rarely take it seriously bc them bitches don't get no type of attention on they shit but I still be so irritated cause how hard is it to make shit up for a fictional story????????? Like omg kys ✌️