Mary J Blige- Be without you.

I'll let you guys know when to hit 'Play'.

~ Enjoy x.
                            ***

Before we start K3nzye , Jrainley , nigerian_goddess and _g_clarke_ get a shoutout for having the most accurate answers to my last question on the last chapter, where I asked you all to see if you knew what my type was! Well done you guys, I expected nothing less, lmao.
                            ***

Temah Amoah's POV.

It's been a few days since I made Douglas break and I have not let him live it down!

I tease him about it constantly, and some days he takes it better than others.

He knows I love him though.

I'm currently on the company day off, so I'm in the barbershop, cutting hair.

I am just finishing off, when the front door opens and is slammed shut.

My head snaps to see who's slamming the door.

Curtís.

His whole demeanour is tense and his eyes are focused solely on me.

My brow furrows as I brush the customer's shoulders off.

"What's up, CJ?" I ask him

He says nothing, but starts to storm up to me.

"Hold up, boy! Where the hell are you going?! She asked you a question!" Timothy, his father asks, a look if surprise on his face. 

He raised Curtís and the rest of his children to be well mannered to everyone.

I stare at my friend, wondering what is wrong with him.

He kisses his teeth and continues to approach me.

"We gotta talk. Storeroom. Now" he says lowly to me.

What the fuck is that tone for?

"Curtís, what the fuck - ?"

"Let's go!" He snaps.

A few of the customers now have their attention on us.

He's making a fucking scene!

I grab his arm and pull him towards the storeroom.

"What's wrong with you?" I ask him, looking into his face.

He stinks!

Has he been drinking?!

"I want you to break up with him" Curtís says looking straight into my face.

My blood runs cold.

What the fuck?!

"Curtís, what the fuck?!" I ask, stepping back.

He grabs my forearms, dragging me back into his personal space

"I'm serious! Leave him. For me" Curtís tells me, looking directly into my eyes.

His voice is slurred and his eyes are unfocused.

I'm shocked. To say the least.

He always seemed so cool with the idea of me and Douglas.

What has changed?!

"Where is this coming from?! What about Tadewa?" I ask, trying to pull my arms out his grasp.

His grip tightens.

"I saw you first, Tems. I liked you first! I had plans for us before he came and ruined it!" Curtís growls.

He sounds like a wounded animal.

I feel myself shrink away, the harsh lighting, making his features more twisted and angry.

"Well, CJ. I love him. And that's not about to change because you've decided to confess your feelings." I fume.

24 years.

That is how long I've known Curtís.

And it's now.

Now he's discovered his 'feelings'.

"Get the fuck out my face" I say to him.

I suddenly yelp as his grip tightens even more.

"Ight stop with your bullshit Tems. You know he doesn't know you like I do" Curtís growls.

"I don't fucking care!" I start to yell, trying to pull out of his hold.

Just as I do, the storeroom door bursts open and Douglas stands there with a rattled look on his face.

I take in his appearance.

He wears a khaki- green t shirt and a pair of sweatpants, his hair neatly trimmed and a bunch of my favourite, sunflowers, in his hand.

He looks from me to Curtís' and then the tight hold that Curtís has on my wrists and he drops the flowers like they hot.

In a couple of long strides he's in front of us and before Curtís can even defend himself, my boyfriend's fist is flying into the middle of his face, the sound it makes is sickening.

Curtís hits the ground with a heavy thud and I gasp in shock.

"Douglas!" I croak.

He holds my hand gently, sweeps up the flowers from the floor and hands them to me.

"Stay here" he says calmly.

He turns to Curtís.

"Get your ass off the floor and step outside, you pussy" he seethes at my former best friend, his fists clenched.

He is a couple of inches taller than Curtís and he is also bulkier than him. He's been working out a lot more recently.

"You wanna put your hands on my girl, you can catch mine, let's go" he says, nudging a groaning Curtís, with the ball of his feet.

I hold my boyfriend's bruising hand.

"Leave him baby. Let's go" I coo into his ear.

He shakes his head making a face.

"No. He put his hands on my wife. He can catch mine" Douglas, says, advancing to continue beating the shit out the man.

Despite the way my heart jumps at being called his wife, I grab his arm and even though he's bigger than me, he lets me hold him back.

He glares down at Curtís, who is still groaning in dismay. Douglas grabs him by the collar and drags him up to stand.

He then hauls him by the scruff to meet everyone in the main shop.

I meekly follow behind, my heart racing a mile a minute.

Timothy doesn't even look shocked to see his son's face dripping with blood.

Everyone else though, is in a stunned silence.

Douglas casually drops Curtís in one of the chairs and then grabs my hand.

"Touch my girl inappropriately again and I'll beat you till you don't know your ass from your elbow. Understand?" He asks Curtís in a deathly calm tone.

It's so calm I get chills and I gulp.

"Hm. Damn right" Timothy adds on, flicking his newspaper to the next page.

Curtís glares at his father, who acts as if he doesn't exist.

"You're damn lucky Crete and the boys weren't here to catch your foolishness" Timothy whistles through his teeth.

I hold in a little chuckle, despite myself and I follow my boyfriend as he walks out of the shop.

He grabs his jacket on the way and hands it to me.

"It's cold. Wear it" he says.

I do as he says, breathing in his strong cologne and aftershave as I do so.

We walk to his car and he holds the door open for me.

"We're going home so you can change and then we're going out somewhere." He says bluntly.

I know he's still upset with Curtís, but he wants to remain sweet with me.

"We can stay home if you like" I say, rubbing my fingers over his knuckles.

He shakes his head, no.

"I've got our whole evening planned out. That dickhead is not about to fuck shit up for us" he swears.

"Baby, I want you to calm down first. Let's talk about it" I tell him.

He nods.

"We can compromise and talk later. Now let's go before it gets late" he says, planting a soft kiss on my lips.

That shuts me up.

When he pulls away, I sit in the car and he closes it, sitting in his side and closing the door after him.

He starts up the car and starts driving.

                          ***

We go home and I see a set of clothes on our bed.

I pick them up and start to get myself undressed.

I shower and then change into the new outfit and I look at myself in the mirror.

^^ Temah's fit.

A couple of moments later, I walk out of the room and I go down the stairs.

I go into the living room and I see Douglas sitting on the couch.

When he sees me, he gets up and wraps me into a big warm hug.

I hug him back and I rub his back.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you princess" Douglas says into my ear.

I rub my thumb against his neck.

"Shush, baby. It's not your fault." I tell him.

He looks into my face.

"But what if I hadn't got there on time? He could have hit you... or worse" he says, his voice shaking.

I take his hand.

"Let me take care of you" I tell him.

He nods.

I reach into the cupboard, getting on my tiptoes to do so, and I grab the first aid kit.

I take it down and open it up.

"C'mere" I tell him.

He walks towards me and gives me his hand and I get to to work, cleaning him up and then wrapping a bandage around his hand.

Once I'm done, he thanks me and we go to the car.

He opens the door for me and I sit inside.

He walks to the other side and he starts to drive.

I look out the window.

There is a silence.

I look at him, to see that his eyes are completely on the road, his posture tense.

"Doug, baby it's over now. Try to relax, okay baby?" I plead with him.

He gives me a wry smile.

"I've already forgotten about that bastard. I just want this date to go well" he says to me, grabbing my thigh with his free hand as he drives.

I giggle.

"You're such a perfectionist. I'll love whatever you do. I tell him"

He squeezes my thigh, a grin appearing on his lips.

"That's why I love you. But you're my queen. It has to be perfect" he says.

He raises his hand, his fingers getting dangerously close.

I press my thighs shut.

"Eyes on the road, sir or you're gonna crash." I tease.

His jaw clenches.

"I will pull this car over right now and have my way with you in this car if you don't stop pulling stunts. You already know I'm stressed, princess, don't let me have to ask you again" he tells me and my jaw drops.

I feel my face flush even down to my neck.

His low vibrato tone runs its corse fingers down my spine, eliciting a reaction from my whole body, making me flush even more.

"You seem flustered" Douglas mentions with a smirk.

I bite my lip and look away.

He continues to drive, soft music playing in the background.

I lay my head back on the headrest, feeling a little sleepy.

I let the hum of the engine lullaby me to sleep.
                            ***

"Tems. Baby wake up." I hear Douglas call, pulling me out of my sleep.

I wake up to see his smiling face and I immediately want to smile back.

I smile and he gives me a kiss.

"I thought you'd fall asleep, so I thought we should stop for a minute. I brought your little toiletries and stuff for you to freshen up" he says, handing me a small bag.

I grin at him, my heart swelling.

I step out of the car with him and I  excuse myself to go and wash my mouth and neaten my clothes at the building's bathroom and then I get back to see him on the phone, looking stressed.

As soon as he sees me, he cuts the call and pockets his phone to smile at me.

I look at him.

"Who was that?" I ask him.

He shakes his head.

"Don't worry about that baby. I was just doing some last minute planning." He tells me, opening the door for me once again.

I sit inside the car, my heart pounding.

Douglas?!

Last minute?!

What is going on?!

He continues to drive and it is the early evening by the time he stop.

Where the hell are we?

He opens the door and helps me out.

"Let's get going" he tells me.

"Where?" I ask, chuckling nervously.

He gives me a heart warming smile.

"You'll see" he says.

I nod and take his hand as he leads me forwards.

After about 5 minutes of walking, we stop.

I feel his grip tighten a little bit as he squeezes my hand.

I squeeze his hand back.

He looks at me and then pulls me into him.

"Turn around" he says to me in my ear, his warm breath against my skin.

I do as I'm told and my jaw hits the floor.

*Play now!*

^^ Douglas' date idea.

"Douglas!" I breath.

I turn to face him and he looks so nervous!

"Do you like it? I mean, I wasn't sure if picnics were too old fashioned or- -" he starts but I cut him off, by pulling him down to kiss him.

He kisses me back, sighing with relief.

"It's perfect. I tell him, against his soft lips.

I give him a peck and he smirks, pulling away first.

He grabs my hand with his good hand and he pulls me towards the spread.

I follow and we sit together.

He pulls me onto his lap and I giggle, leaning into him comfortably.

He pops some champagne and pours me a glass.

I take it and drink it in sips.

Mary J Blige plays softly on a vinyl record and I look at my boyfriend as he grabs a whole spread of different foods out of the basket and I marvel at it, my mouth already watering.

I get off his lap so we can both eat comfortably.

I sit on the cushions as we eat and we talk amicably.

Once we're done, we lay with each other, looking at the New York skyline start to blend in with the sunset.

More records play softly, as I rub my newly manicured nails on his chest lovingly.

A breeze passes over my skin making me shiver a little.

"You cold?" He asks.

I nod at him.

"Oh, I brought some blankets in case. Let me get them" he suggests, sitting up.

I put my hand on his chest to stop him.

"No. Baby lemme get it" I say, standing up.

I get up and he instructs me to find it, where he left them. I walk to the side and bend to scoop them up.

I stand upright.

"Temah" Douglas calls.

"Mhm, baby, I just found- -" I start to say, turning around.

I turn around completely to face my boyfriend and I freeze.

He's in front of me.

Down on one knee.

He holds a velvet black box open and a glittering asset inside.

^^ The Engagement Ring.

He looks more vulnerable than I've ever seen him, a mixture of emotions on his face.

He clears his throat.

"I, er- Temah." He starts nervously.

"We've been together for 6 months now. Every single day I wake up and I thank God that he gave me to you and you to me" he continues.

Oh my gosh.

"I love everything about you from the way you have all of your family's best interests at heart. To the way you always smile even when it's difficult for you." He continues.

"I love the way you whisper 'I love you' in the middle of the night and hug me tighter. I love the way you grin and show off those adorable little creases next to your eyes. I love the way you bite your lip when you're nervous and I love the way you play with your fingers when you're shy" he says, grinning as he remembers.

My heart catches in my chest. I feel happy tears start to surface.

"I love the way you you look at me through your eyelashes when you want me. And I love the sound you make, when I'm breaking you over the edge" he says with a smirk and just like that I'm winded.

"Most of all, I love how you don't need me to be as wonderful as you are. You know when to bare yourself to me and when to let me know that you're not made of glass. I'm really in love with you Temah Amoah. And I'd really love for you to be my wife. Even if you say no, I know our love is permanent. I'm not going nowhere" he says to finish.

I feel tears of joy and excitement start to fall on my cheeks as I look down at the love of my life.

"C'mon now don't start that" he whispers, his voice cracking as his eyes gloss over.

Is he crying?!

"Douglas, I- -"

"It's okay sweetheart, you don't have to- -"

"Yes!" I yell.

His head snaps up to look at me and I nod at him, smiling with tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Really?" He asks, smiling all big.

I nod, sobbing now, desperately trying to wipe my face now.

He gets up and throws his head back yelling 'Yes' loudly.

I laugh as he hugs me, pulling me off of the ground and swinging me around making me squeal.

He puts me down and holds my face kissing me deeply.

This isn't like all of the other times we've kissed.

This is slow.

Sweet.

Passionate.

I kiss him back, running my fingers through his beard.

He pulls away, long enough to slip the ring on my finger and then we're kissing again.

His fingers are in my short curls and he tugs making me gasp.

"What, you like that, miss Amoah?" He asks.

"Yes, sir I do" I tell him, pulling back to look in his eyes.

They suddenly darken and without another word, my hand is in his and he's pulling me back in the direction that we were walking in.

"Douglas, where are we going?" I ask with a giggle.

"Home" he states simply.

"I want to show my fiancée what happens when she pushes me" he says with confidence, making my heart jump.

Fiancée!

I'm getting married!

—————————————————
Hey all!

What did you think of this one?

What do you think will happen next?

Tell me in the comments and don't forget to vote.
~ Xo.