Nina's leg bounced repeatedly in place as she tried to focus on the episode of Baddies West playing on the TV in Samir's bedroom; she'd already watched the entire season but she needed something to occupy her attention for now, and this was the most eye-catching.

It was going on seven in the evening and she was currently waiting for Samir to come back home from work. She didn't realize how boring she actually was until Tyler turned her credit card off, which stopped her Pilates membership and everything else she did as a stay at home wife.

She went to two job interviews this morning in hopes that one would hire her on the spot, but neither did and all she could do now was pray for a call back within a few days. Along with those two jobs, she'd applied to countless other positions on Indeed and company websites, but to no avail..

A few years ago, it was easier than pouring water out of a boot when the instructions were on the heel to get hired anywhere regardless of your qualifications or experience level. She assumed the large gap in her resume is what was making this a difficult process, or it could be that she was just impatient.

Whichever the case may be, she just hoped she could get put on somewhere soon enough. She had a little over three thousand dollars to her name—cash that she managed to withdraw before Tyler was able to cut her card off—but that wouldn't hold her over for long.

Anyway, she'd just finished cooking dinner for tonight—something that had become a little routine over the last couple of days—cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, and did both Samir's and Samara's laundry that were in baskets in the small washroom.

She knew it was time for her to sit down somewhere when she got the urge to rearrange the living room. She didn't want Samir or Samara to feel like she was trying to make their space hers. That's why she needed her own place. Some of the things that worked for them didn't do the same for her, and that was no one's fault.

That was the reason she had high hopes for getting one of those jobs from this morning. Three thousands dollars would only be enough for the first and last month's security deposit of an apartment. She needed plenty more.

Nina was in the middle of folding Samir's clothes the exact way that he liked when the front door opened and closed, and within seconds he was walking into the bedroom with his work duffel bag in tote.

"Wassup mama?" He lowered his head to kiss her lips after she walked into his arms for a hug, and Nina rubbed his back underneath his sweatshirt while returning the kiss.

"I said wassup?" His voice tiredly rasped in the middle of the kiss, and she pulled away with a smile on her face.

"Hi baby. I missed you so much." She smiled up at him before trailing her eyes over the way the gray sweatsuit fit his toned body. Everything about him was just perfect.

"I missed you too. You look so pretty. What you doing?" He analyzed her the same way that she did him, loving the way the red Skims set looked on her; then the opened drawers of his dresser caught his attention.

"Oh, I just finished folding your clothes. And I did them the way that you do them, but you can go back and check to make sure. I think I got it right for the most part though." Nina told him; he claimed that he didn't have obsessive compulsive disorder but all the signs were there. He didn't even realize them until Nina pointed them out.

"The house smells different, too. You kept yourself busy, huh?" He put his work bag in the closet and removed his crocs before turning to face her again.

"Yeah.. something like that. Come on. Are you hungry?" She grabbed his hand to lead him back to the kitchen, not bothering to wait on his answer.

"Mhm. I been thinking about dinner since I got off." He chuckled. He looked forward to coming home to her home-cooked meals now.

Nina fixed his plate that consisted of extra crispy fried fish, fried cabbage, and candied yams. She didn't feel like making dessert today so she bought banana pudding from Walmart when she went grocery shopping. It tasted better than when she made it from scratch anyway, as unfortunate as that was.

They went to sit in the living room again, and Nina watched him fall in love with a new meal for the fourth time this week. Samir was the type that could eat chicken tenders and fries for all three meals of every day of the week and she was glad that it'd been easy to break him out of that.

"It's so easy to read you. You know that?" Samir cut a piece of fish to accompany the cabbage on his fork, making Nina look over at him.

"What you thinking about?" He asked. A small, closed lip smile graced her face at the way he always wanted to know what was wrong with her.

Tyler used to force her to get over her emotions without acknowledging her, so it was refreshing to have something new. Samir paid so much attention to her.

"I don't know what I'm doing right now Mir." She sighed quietly under her breath before continuing. "I feel like I'm so behind in life.. I didn't realize how far behind though, until now. I really put myself in a hole by staying with him. And I'm hating the process of starting over from scratch."

"You can't expect things to happen overnight mama."

"I know. I wish it was that easy." She mumbled.

"You have to put the work in and be patient if you want it to be easy. It took him five years to dig that hole for you Nina. You won't be able to get out of it in three days. Don't beat yourself up about how long it'll take either. It's not your fault."

"Isn't it, though? I let him put me here. I did it to myself. I saw all the signs and I still gave him the benefit of the doubt; I could've been left, Mir." She was trying not to cry but this topic made her throat close up. She hated her current circumstances.

"You didn't know any better ma. You thought he loved you how you loved him and there's nothing wrong with that. You have time to get back on track; life didn't end when you left him. You just gotta be patient." He reiterated, and then he pulled her into his lap when he realized that she was crying.

"And I'm not rushing you at all, ok? You the one that's rushing." He chuckled, kissing the side of her face.

"You can stay with me until you get tired of me, and I'll take care of you. I make the same six figures that he does—probably more. You can spend my money." He told her, smiling at the laugh that came from her.

"You play so much." Her grinning expression made his whole face light up.

"I'm serious though Tinkerbell. I'm here for you. Let me be here. You don't have to be scared to ask me for anything." He pulled her forward to kiss her forehead, kissing her lips next.

"I love you so much. Have I told you that before?" She dried her face up completely by using the back of her hands to wipe her tears away.

"Once or twice." He jokingly shrugged.

"Well I do baby.. so much."

"I love you more. So much." He repeated, kissing her once more. His hand wrapped around her neck once she intensified the kiss that was supposed to be small, and Nina moaned in his mouth when she felt him rise underneath her.

"You need to cut a hole through these. I can't get to you quick enough." He reached into her Skims boxers when she moved her kiss to his neck, and her smile faded as quickly as it came due to her moaning again, feeling his thumb graze her clit over her panties.

"Take me to the room baby." She bit her lip once he pulled them to the side, wrapping both of her arms around his neck to make it easier for him to carry her.

"Nah. I'm 'bouta take you down right here. Get these off Nina." He was clearly eager for her, and his words made her panties dampen further.

The sound of the locks of the front door clicking made him groan in frustration, and Nina's smile returned with a laugh this time. If only he would've listened to her and just taken her to the bedroom.

"Honeyyy, I'm homeeee." Samara dragged out, holding the door open for Tristan to bring a few bags of groceries inside.

"Leave again." Samir rubbed his middle finger down Nina's wet slit, and she quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him while also stopping herself from moaning.

"Shut up dirt neck. I'm so glad y'all ain't in the bed though. We going to Onyx later. Y'all wanna come? Nina?" She mostly directed the question to Nina because she knew that Samir always said no, but he agreed to anything that Nina did.

"Yeah. I'm down sista. What time?" She asked, and Samir annoyingly groaned out again, making her smile grow.

"Eleven-ish. Maybe 12. Drinks on Top." She referred to her boyfriend, and he only kissed Samara's cheek in response.

Nina noticed that he was always so quiet, just like Samir. He spoke to her whenever he saw her and last night the two of them wound up in the kitchen to get a snack at the same time, and he asked if there was anything she wanted to add to their usual weekly grocery list. That was his first time saying a whole sentence to her.

Sometimes she could hear him laughing and talking loudly with Samara though, just how Samir was with her. She thought it was cute that the two siblings were polar opposites and found love with polar opposites.

"Get outta there boy." She laughed quietly, pulling his hand all the way out of her underwear. She bit her bottom lip as she watched him stick his fingers in his mouth, savoring her taste.

She tossed her head back with another laugh when he immediately picked her up, hoisting her up against his body. He carried her to his bedroom without saying anything to his sister, closing and locking the door behind them.

"You have to be fast 'cause we need to get ready Mir." She smiled, helping him get her shorts off. It was now eight and it would take her at least two hours to get ready, and that was on the low side.

"I don't need to do nothin'. Except make you nut." He emphasized, and she was about to laugh but was stopped once his head dipped in between her legs.

Nina placed the hookah mouthpiece to her lips to take a pull from it while recording herself on Instagram, and she angled her phone to the side to get Samir in the video, capturing the unintentional mug on his face.

He held the expression because he was so focused on the wood he was rolling, making sure he pearled it to perfection. Seeing Samara pass him a bag of weed and a pack of backwoods honestly took Nina by surprise because she'd never seen him smoke before and he never mentioned the hobby either.

It was rare that he did though; only in times like this where he was clearly overwhelmed by his surroundings. There was way too much going on in Club Onyx and he hated not being able to be as aware as he preferred. He used the weed to calm himself down so that he didn't throw—what his sister liked to call—a tantrum.

Sometimes he took edibles as well but those wouldn't kick in quick enough. He needed a mental relief at this exact moment.

"Get that out my face ma." Samir hid his head behind her back, able to block himself from her camera since she was in his lap.

"Ok I'm moving then." She attempted to stand up, then laughed at how tight his grip became to stop her from moving.

He placed his blunt to his lips and covered the end of it with his right hand, using the left one to flick the BIC lighter to spark it. Once the end of the wood became red and ignited from the flame, he took a long pull and positioned his head back over Nina's shoulder to let her record him.

Her head turned to press her lips against his, and he groaned to himself as she sucked the smoke from his mouth. They'd only been at the club for twenty minutes and he already wanted to take her back to the house.

"Stop playing with me Nina." His hand came up to grab her neck, and she smiled, blowing the smoke out in front of her camera. She posted the story to her main page before reaching over on the small table to grab a shot of Espolon.

She tossed two of them straight back and chased it with the small can of sprite in her hand. Her body began to move to the beat of Peaches & Eggplants by Young Nudy, causing her to reopen her Instagram camera within seconds.

"Here baby. Record me." She passed her phone to Samir, then leaned over to grab the table once more. He put the camera in .5x and angled it downwards to show the way her ass moved effortlessly in a circle against him.

Blowing smoke out of his mouth, he let the blunt rest between his lips so that he could use his hand to grab her braids. That must've triggered something in her because she raised one of her legs in the air and pressed herself back as if she was taking backshots.

"Fuck me good, nigga make me squirt!" She reached back to grab his belt buckle, and Samir immediately ended the video and pulled her up by her hair.

"Man I just told you to ch—,"

"Okayyy, I'm done." She laughed, grabbing his hand that made its way to her neck again. She smiled against his lips as he gave her a kiss, and she pulled back before it deepened so that her brown liner wouldn't transfer to his lips or smudge over her own.

On the other side of the section, Samara looked up from the blunt she was rolling when her boyfriend tapped her leg, pointing to where Samir and Nina were standing. He had a smile on his face and his eyes gleamed with admiration as Nina forced him to dance with her while holding around his neck.

Samara loved Nina for her little brother. She brought a side of him out that no one knew existed. It'd been ages since anyone had seen him this happy. He'd always been the 'weird' quiet kid out of the bunch but he shut down completely after their mom died—even closing himself off from the family.

It was relieving to see him smiling and always looking forward to seeing Nina or hearing her voice, but it terrified Samara at the same time. She prayed to God every night that Nina didn't break her little brother's heart after being the one who fixed it.

Sexyy Red was literally playing through the speakers of the club and Samara was so drunk that she almost teared up at the sight of them now sitting on the cushioned bench together. Samir deserved the world and she was so happy to see that he'd found solace in somebody that actually liked him for who he truly was.

"It's fine Mir." Nina chuckled, grabbing his hand to stop him from trying to fix her dress for the millionth time. It kept rolling up and it was obvious that it was bothering him.

"I don't like it." He told her while fixing the small part that had flipped, rubbing it to flatten it against her thigh.

"You don't like nothing boy." She uncrossed her legs so that the dress wouldn't move anymore before pulling the breast area up to prevent a nip slip.

Samir lowered his head to kiss the same spot, and she shielded his lips with her hand so that nobody could see him kissing her nipple, then laughed when he rested his head in the crook of her neck with a frustrated sigh leaving his mouth.

"I'm ready to go man. Ain't nothin' funny." He sucked his teeth with a roll of his eyes.

"You didn't get enough earlier?" She asked.

"No. You made me stop." He cut his eyes at her, earning another laugh.

Thankfully though, they did end up leaving within half an hour. Samara was too drunk to even see and Nina was close to that point as well. By the time they stopped to pick up a late night dinner at Wendy's and made it home, it was pushing two in the morning.

"You good ma? Take 'em off. I'll hold them." Samir said after listening to Nina hiss from almost tripping in her Alexander Wang stiletto heels.

"Yo' ass ain't coming out no more." Tristan shook his head as he picked Samara up because if she fell one more time he would just leave her on the ground.

"My brother j—he just—and you—cussing me out? Bitch what I do?" She hiccuped, unable to finish her sentence, and Nina laughed after realizing what she was trying to say.

"Aye, Nina," A familiar voice called out, stopping all four of them in their tracks. Nina's eyebrows furrowed as Tyler's younger brother, Jace, approached them with Tyler right behind him, and a mug settled in on Samir's face.

"W—what are y'all doing h—what the fuck?!" Nina immediately sobered up when Jace swung at Samir, and luckily he was aware enough to already know the type of timing they were on.

Within moments all four men were now fighting in the parking garage of the condominium while Nina and Samara tried their hardest to break up the sudden brawl between them. They hadn't been fighting an entire minute before blood began to leak out on the concrete.

"Oh my god, Mir, that's enough. Get off of him." Nina realized that some of the blood was coming from his own nose, but it didn't stop him or even slow his punches towards Tyler's face.

"Fuck you thought this was bitch? Quit running." Tristan pulled his jeans up, holding his fists up in a fighting stance as Jace backed up a few feet in an attempt to catch his breath.

"C'mon nigga, you tired? Huh?" Samir grabbed Nina's arm that was on his waist and pushed it away before pulling his shirt from over his head since Tyler practically ripped it in half anyway.

"Baby please stop. Please?" Nina stepped in the middle of them as soon as a space was opened, knowing that he wouldn't swing because then she'd get hit. She was so irritated and was seconds away from crying.

"Are you fucking serious?" Tyler wiped blood from his lip, ignoring his brother who was still fighting with Jace.

"What, Tyler?! Why the fuck are you even here bro I been left! This shit so weird man, who the fuck sit around waiting until two in the morning on a random Thursday to fight and still lose? Go the fuck home!" She still held around Samir's waist so that he didn't go at him again.

"Bitch you know better." Samir swung one more time as soon as Tyler reached to grab Nina, throwing a forceful jab at his right jaw which instantly knocked him out. "Fuck on." He then spit a mouthful of blood out on him.

"Stop it Samir!" Nina used all of her strength to push him back to stop him from kicking Tyler, sending him into the car parked a couple of feet away.

"Ohhh my goddd." Samara leaned against the wall of the elevator, now a little more sober than before and clearly upset. She stopped trying to pull Tristan away a long time ago because she just didn't have it in her right now. She was way too drunk for their shenanigans.

"On everything I love if you tend to that nigga I'm done. I swear to god." Samir ignored the pain in his back just as Nina crouched down near Tyler.

"He wasn't even reaching for you! Why would you do that? Look at him Samir!" She angrily gestured to her husband who was leaking blood on the ground.

"You got it then." His voice was raspy as he walked away from her at the same time that Tristan finally backed away from Jace—who surprisingly kept up with him as best as he could but still sustained more injuries.

"Leave her. Let's go Samara." He grabbed his sister by her arm to stop her from going to help Nina, pulling her towards the elevator.

Took me damn near four days to finish this chapter I was so stuck omg 🥲 almost killed Samir off to just end ts