This book is coming to a gradual end. Maybe ten chapters to go or so, I'm not sure but around that number 👉🏾👈🏾. Tolani's death shocked everyone😔💔, but it had to be done. Her death was the challenge, the push all of them (the gang) needed for their eyes to be open. After what happened, they'd definitely never judge anyone wrongly again, Especially the Twins.

Jamal is about to learn the truth about what happened that day. If Khalil actually left him or if Khalil was the reason he was able to stay alive. You'll also find out the entire story.

Don't forget to hit that Orange star before you start reading ⭐.

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"𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚."
_𝑫𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔

𝔼𝕃𝕐𝕆ℕ

I was lying down, eyes trained on the POP ceiling of my room with my hands locked to my sides. If I said I have been able to get over the events of the past few weeks, then I'd be lying, because God knows my mind was yet to grasp the concept of Tolani's death, or everything else that followed Dr Ferdinand's announcement that day.

"We lost Tolani. I'm sorry."

There was silence.

Somadina wordlessly brought both of his hands to his head, his eyes widened like deer caught in head light. Vanessa placed a hand on her chest, loosing her balance on her feet and she would have fallen if Soma had not been quick to grab her. Mateo backed up gradually, until his back was against the wall and he slid down till he was seated on the floor, his eyes staring ahead. His gaze held so life and I couldn't read him.

Skye clasped her hand over her mouth, heavy breathing escaping her lips in small puffs, her green eyes brimming with tears. Jamal's hands dropped from where they were resting against Khalil's shoulder. I couldn't see his expression because he was backing me. I on the other hand didn't even have enough time to register the implications of those words when Khalil let out a guttural sound, turning everyone's attention to him.

What gave me utmost concern was when that sound transformed into a full flown laugh. Not just any laughter, a menacing one that had chills crawling down my spine.

Blood of Jesus. Blood of Jesus.

He was laughing hysterically, his head thrown to the bag as rumbles and rumbles of laughter kept rolling out of his mouth. I shot a concerned look at Skye who on the other hand looked scared to shits.

What we didn't see coming was Khalil lunging himself at the doctor who looked equally scared even though he was trying to mask it. Khalil held the man by his collar, pulling him to his face. Jamal immediately went closer, trying to pry Khalil's hands off the man.

"Khalil, calm down..." He pleaded but the latter didn't pay any attention to him. His eyes were trained murderously on the doctor whose resolve had begun to break.

"She's not dead!" He growled out through gritted teeth. "She can't be dead! I told her not to leave!" He bellowed, shaking the doctor vigorously.

Skye choked out a sob beside me and I felt the wetness on my face as I watch Khalil raving, shaking the rather scared doctor forcefully, while Jamal was trying to get him to calm down. It was at that moment that I registered the reason for all these.

Tolani was dead.

Gone forever.

We would never see her again.

Jesus!

"I'm s-sorry." Dr Ferdinand stuttered out, trying all possible means to pry Khalil's hand, who seemed to have tightened around his neck, off his collar. "The complications were deeper than we thought. There was no way she could have made it!" He tried to explain.

"Bullshit!" Khalil shoved the man hard, causing him to stagger on the tiled floor and always tripped over. "You were supposed to save her! You were supposed to help her! She isn't dead! You are just playing a prank on me right now, aren't you? You are fucking messing with me." He asked rhetorically, then laughed again before he began pacing the room. We couldn't do anything. No, we couldn't even go near him.

We dared not.

"Hey," It was Jamal, moving carefully towards a ragging Khalil. "You have to be calm..." Jamal was saying but Khalil turned abruptly, swinging his hand so hard that he hit Jamal in the face and sent him flying.

I gasped, rushing over to where Jamal had fallen down with Skye right behind me. He had a bloody nose, a bloody nose from one involuntarily slap from Khalil, who didn't seem to care. He stared down at Jamal, his gaze fiery. I didn't miss the hint of tears in his eyes and my heart broke into thousands of pieces

Oh Khalil.

"Don't tell me to calm down when you are supposed to tell me that Tolani is okay!!" He yelled, his voice echoing thunderously through the hallway. "She is fine! They are just messing with us!" He kept screaming, not accepting for one bit that Tolani was gone. Jamal got up from the floor, looking at Khalil, his face contorted with so much emotion, tears crammed in his eyes as well.

"I'm so sorry..." He whispered, not knowing what else to say.

Everything that happened from that point on was just wrong timing.

The door that led to that ward burst open, revealing a man and woman old enough to be our parents with a nurse trailing behind them and telling them to calm down. I heard Jamal cuss and I knew, I just knew right there that those were Tolani's parents.

And so did Khalil.

"Where are you keeping my daughter!" The woman screamed, tying and retying her rapa. Her hair was a mess and her make up was smeared.

"What's all these news I'm hearing about my daughter being dead, Ehn?!" It was the man now, his eyes searching everyone of ours before landing on the doctor who was still trying to collect himself from the push Khalil gave him. He began to walk towards Dr Ferdinand but he didn't get far before he was sent flying across the room, eliciting a brain-splitting scream from his wife, me, Skye and Vanessa.

Khalil had punched him and no, he wasn't done.

At that point, I couldn't imagine how strong Khalil was, because all the guys lunged at him as he took menacing steps towards Chief Adeoye, trying to stop him from doing anything that he might regret. But Khalil wasn't allowing them stop him. In one wave of his hands, he had them off his body and was able to make it towards Chief Adeoye without any interruptions.

He picked the plump man up effortlessly, all up in his face. Khalil's face was murderous, his eyes blazing with anger. He held the man with the neck of Agbada and growled out. "This is all your fault." Before throwing another punch to the man's face.

And another.

And another.

Each one eliciting screams me as I watched.

Jamal, Soma and Mateo lunged at him again, trying to get him off the man but to no avail. Mrs Adeoye even went as far as biting Khalil's hand, but with one fling of that hand, he sent her flying as well, focusing more on inflicting pain on Chief Adeoye.

"You killed her! You killed her!" He repeated breathlessly as he kept punching him. "You sold her out and it's because of you she's dead!"

Everything spiralled straight out of control. Screams filling the hall way as no one could stop Khalil was beating the living day light out of the man. The doctor had called for help and after so much aggression, they were able to get Khalil off an almost unconscious Chief Adeoye.

Khalil was thrashing around, screaming profanities at Tolani's parents, promising that he'd make them pay for what they had done, that they would suffer for everything they made Tolani go through while the doctors tried to calm him down. He was finally subdued, given a sedative and put to sleep while Chief Adeoye was taken in for treatment.

The rest of us just stood there all stood there, awestruck and speechless. No one knew how to explain what had happened.

Tolani's burial took place few days after her death. The media carried it and it was all over the news. When the only child of a prominent politician dies, everyone in the entire nation would want to know why. Theories were flying around and Tolani's parents didn't make any TV appearances. It made me wonder what they were going through as well.

I mean, they just lost their only daughter.

I had to put off my phone because the Limelight Trojans had theories of their own. Theories that sickened me.

They all had something derogative, something terrible to say about Tolani. They blamed her for it. They were quick to jump into conclusions. Truth was, I wasn't any better than they were. All of us already had a bad mindset about her, only a few of us were able to make things right at the end. Only Khalil looked past her flaws and got to know the real her. The real her none of us would ever get the privilege of knowing because of our shallow mentality.

My parents and Jamal's came back to meet us, the children in a disarrayed mood. Everything was explained. Khalil was gotten out of the hospital and ever since, I haven't heard from him or Jamal. Skye has been dropping by once in a while. Our parents didn't make us go to school because they understood the gravity of what had happened.

I lost someone that I could have been friends with for a long time, not few minutes to her death. Maybe, just maybe if I had channelled my hero complexity on her, maybe I could have been able to help more. Maybe this could have been prevented.

But that was what it was. A Maybe.

The constant knocking at my door dragged me out of my mind trip, causing to jerk up in a sitting position. At that point, the door opened and mum walked in. I was more surprised that she had not gone to work, because I thought I was the only one at home.

"Mum, I didn't know you were still around." I said, looking away from her scrutinizing gaze.

"You are crying again." She stated and immediately, my hand went to my face to feel the wetness. I didn't even realized that I was crying until she pointed it out. Wiping them away, I mustered a small smile at her.

"No, I'm not crying. I just..." I looked for an excuse to give. "I was just thinking about somethings, that's all." I added. It wasn't a lie because I was actually thinking. Mum nodded in understanding, not wanting to push any further.

"Your friends are here to see you." She announced and on cue, my door opened further, revealing Skye and Vanessa. I sighed, getting off my bed to meet them half way and pulling the both of them in a hug. From the corner of my eyes, I could see my mum smile before she turned around and left the room,

Leaving the three of us to ourselves.

☆☆☆☆

"Why are you in your school uniform, Skye." I asked as soon as I entered the room, carrying in a tray a plate of microwaved pizza and two can sodas. Closing the door with the heel of my foot, I walked to where Skye and Vanessa were settled on the bed, dropping the tray on the stool right in front of us.

"I had to go to school for an emergency meeting with the Principal. Somadina as well." She answered after thanking me for the little snack. Vanessa on the other hand immediately dug into the pizza, mumbling thank you with a full mouth. I had a hint what the emergency meeting would have been about. The Principal must have heard as well.

It was all over the news infact.

"It was about Tolani, wasn't it?" I asked, just to confirm and she nodded, shrugging afterwards.

"Yes." She replied, then continued. "It was in respect to the senior class field trip we were all supposed to go for. He thinks we should cancel it. Giving that Tolani planned the trip and she won't even get to go." She added and I nodded in understanding.

As the Social Prefect, Tolani had planned most of the events of our final moments in high school. Though, she wasn't always around in school, she was doing everything back stage. She already booked us a three day get away trip to a resort in Osun State. She was planning our variety night and prom when everything began to go down hill.

Cancelling just one of the events in her honour was the very least we could ever do.

"I personally think it's a good idea." Vanessa spoke up for the first time in a while and we both looked at her. "The only issue is that most of our class mates are not buying the idea. That's mostly why the group chat keeps buzzing with derogative comments fired towards her." I scoffed on hearing that.

Why am I not surprised?

"I had to put off my phone because I was getting tired of the messages I was seeing on that group chat. People can be so insensitive." I commented, snorting afterwards. Skye fished out her phone from her pocket.

"Just listen to this." She said, her eyes glued to her phone. "This was from Tobi. 'I don't understand why we have to cancel an event because of Tolani. It won't bring her back. She's dead and she's gone. End of story'." Skye's face was scrunched up on disgust as she dropped her phone.

"I almost gouged my eyes out seeing that message and trust me, that's even the least insensitive." Skye added. I sighed.

"Yes, it won't bring her back but at least, don't speak ill of the dead. She strived in making most of our last moments a memorable one. Cancelling one in her honour just shows how much she actually tried for us. It won't change again, but it's the gesture that counts. Too bad people are too shallow minded to see it that way." I said.

"Vanessa, what are you doing?" Skye suddenly asked and I looked towards Nessa to see her eyes glued to her phone, fingers typing on the keypad with the speed on light.

"Giving those mother fuckers a piece of my mind." She answered, her tone filled with finality. In a span of twenty seconds, Skye's phone made a sound and she picked up quickly, opening the group chat. I peered across, seeing that Vanessa had sent a long ass message to the group chat, shutting the entire group down.

Oh wow!

"Oh wow." I voiced out my thoughts, watching if anyone would reply after that. But no one did. No one dared to.

"Gee Nessa," Skye started, looking at Vanessa who went back to munching on her pizza. "You don't have much to say, yet you said a whole lot." She teased and Vanessa shrugged.

"If I had said everything on my mind, trust me that group will not be able to contain me." She answered and I laughed, not doubting her for one second. I turned to look at Skye who was still going through her phone.

"How is Jamal?" I asked and she looked up from her phone and at me. Then she mustered a small smile, shrugging.

"He's okay, I guess." She answered, though I could sense the uncertainty in her voice. "We have barely spoken to each other since the burial but I can tell that he's beating himself up, feeling guilty that he didn't notice that something was wrong with Tolani until he was told.-

But the truth is that Everyone of us feel guilty because she used to be our friend and when she went off, we didn't ask why she did. We didn't even try to find out what went wrong. We just concluded in out heart that she wanted to be that person. We are the major cause of this no matter how anyone would like to see it. We have a big fault in this." Skye said, her eyes brimming with tears. She was quick to sniff it back in before it started to fall.

"I wasn't in the circle from the beginning of time." Vanessa started, causing me to turn to her. "But that was no excuse not to like her just because every other person didn't like her. Judging her wasn't the right thing and God knows how much a regret it. But that's the thing. We don't always know what someone is going through that makes them turn out the way they do and we shouldn't judge them based on what is outside. We have learnt that the hard way." She gave a sad smiled. I exhaled, taking their hands in mine.

"I get that no matter how much we try to forgive ourselves, the nagging feeling of being one of the causes of what happened to Tolani would still be there." I stated and they looked at me. "But let's remember that the girl in question forgave all of us before she died. It was like she knew she was going to go and she didn't want to hold unto any grudges. The Tolani of those last moments should be the memory we forever carry in our hearts, not any other memory. Because that Tolani was our friend and she wouldn't have wanted us to feel guilty." I told them and they nodded.

I wasn't sure at first if my pep talk meant anything, but when I saw that regret and guilt eased in their features, I knew my words did something, no matter how little. And I was glad. Reaching over to grab a slice of pizza, I remembered someone I was supposed to ask about from the beginning. Someone I was very much concerned about because Tolani's death affected him more than anyone of us.

"How is Khalil?" I asked suddenly, causing Skye's head to jerk up with a start. She looked at me, not saying anything  but her eyes communicated a lot.

Khalil wasn't alright.

☆☆☆☆

𝕁𝔸𝕄𝔸𝕃

"There is a bowl of fish in the freezer. Help me get it." Mum instructed me and I nodded, stopped chopping the carrots and went over to the freezer to do what she had asked.

Mum was on leave, which was the reason why she was at home. With Dad was still at work and Skye at Elyon's, I was the only one at home with Mum. Well, Khalil was too but he has been cooked up in his room for weeks, not leaving for any reason. My parents understood how much Tolani's death was affecting him so they let him be, even though everyone was sort scared that he would harm himself.

Mum took it upon herself to check up on him everyday. She knew he wouldn't open the door to see anyone, but all she wanted to do was hear him speak, of breath at least. A sign that he was okay. She would be the one to take his food to him, putting it at his door step and going to take the barely eaten or untouched content later on. That has been the cycle for weeks.

And it bothered me.

I was concerned for him. Especially after the episode at the hospital. After almost beating Tolani's dad to death, screaming that it was all his fault which I don't still understand why and how, he was sedated and stayed in the hospital for days. I was surprised Tolani's dad didn't press charges, knowing how influential he was. If anything, he was apologizing, like he knew what Khalil was talking about.

"Inioluwa!" Mum screaming my name jerked me out of my reverie. I looked at my hand and realized I had only taken the fish out of the freezer but had not given it to her. I just stood in front of the freezer and trailed off.

"Sorry, my mind wasn't here." I apologized, dropping the bowl on the counter and went back to chopping the carrots. I could feel her gaze on me but I couldn't look up to meet her eyes. Just when I thought she was going to bombard me with questions, she was quiet, though I could still feel her gaze on me.

It was just a matter not seconds before she asked me what the problem was, or what I was thinking about.

And on cue, she asked. "What is on your mind?"  I looked up to meet her eyes. She was standing, leaning against the refrigerator, her arms folded across her chest. I shrugged, turning back to keep chopping the carrots.

"I know you guys are finding it hard to talk about what happened," She started again, moving closer to me and placing her hand on my shoulder. I sighed, dropping the cleavers to look at her as she continued.

"But you need to understand that there is nothing you can do about it anymore. With what your sister told me, you all settled your differences with her before she passed and that's all you need to focus on, that she left on a clean slate with you guys. That's the most important thing." She said.

"I know. But believe it or not, I'm more bothered about Khali." I spoke. She corked her had to the side as she didn't understand what I was talking about. "He... He loved her. You know only a fraction of what her death did to him. I saw him break before my very eyes, mum. It was disheartening." I told her, the memory of everything that had gone down in the hospital that day still fresh in my memory. Still making my head pound.

"It made me feel even more guilty because I have wrongly judged him all these years..." I trailed off, suddenly remembering that I was supposed to ask mum what exactly happened that day. Mum on the other hand, looked extremely confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked. I turned to face her completely, bracing my self for this talk. The talk that will change my mindset about Khalil permanently.

"Mum, I want to ask you a question and I need you to answer me with all honesty." I said and she nodded, muttering anything.

"There was something that happened five years ago. I had a pretty big panic attack that landed me in the emergency ward for weeks. Around that time Khalil was staying with us for the Summer." I stated and she nodded again, urging me to go on.

"I want to know what exactly happened around that time, giving that I was unconscious. How did you get to me on time? Better still, how did I survive because you weren't supposed to get back till later in the evening that day. In other words, I probably should have died."

"Of course not!" She suddenly retorted, cutting me off and causing me to veer back a bit at the intensity of her voice. "Why would you even say that? There is no way you could have died that day. No, we didn't allow it. Khalil made sure of it." That last statement got me and I stopped short. I scrunched my face up, the skin between my brows knitting.

"What do you mean Khalil made sure of it?" I asked, my tone giving her the sense that I was confused. She looked back at me with her own confused expression, squinting at me.

"Khalil didn't tell you what happened?" She asked and I shook my head. "He made us promise not to tell you but I thought he would have told you, especially since it was something really huge. I mean, it's been five years." She was just as confused as I was.

Wait...

He made them promise not to tell me?

Why would he do that?

"What exactly happened that day, Mum? What did Khalil do?" I asked frantically, my eyes trained on hers as I needed her to see how desperate I was to get answers.

"It's not just about what happened that day but the series of events that took place after." She said, going over to the gas cooker to turn it off. "While we were away that day and you were unconscious, Khalil was basically the only reason you were able to stay alive." She deadpan again, knocking the breath right out of me.

"How!" I exclaimed, wondering how that was even possible. "I mean, I saw him before I passed out. He stood right there and watched me, didn't he?" Mum sighed, then began to shake her head slowly causing a heavy breath to escape my lips.

"Jamal, He was frozen in fear." She revealed and I dragged out a shaky breath, standing rooted to the floor, awestruck and shocked. Mum continued anyway.  "Yes, I understand that the both of you never saw saw eye to eye while growing up, but Khalil never really understood the gravity of your PTSD. That day, he saw it in action and he froze because he was the only one at home with you and he had absolutely no idea what to do." She added, her eyes trained on me. I swallowed, digesting all the information I was getting at goal, feeling it's weight wash over me.

I knew this was only the beginning.

"So, when he realized what had happened, he called us immediately. He was crying over the phone, not knowing what to do or how to help you. I didn't get myself that day," she paused at that, laughing at the vague memory while wiping a stray tear from the base of her eyes with the tip of her fingers.

"Your Dad tried to calm him down because I was already in an emotional stress at that point. Your Dad gave him instructions on how to keep your heart beating so that it won't go into shock from lack of oxygen.-

So, with the guidance of your father through the phone call, he was able to keep you in a position that had the blood flowing through your body, enough to keep your heart beating. Luckily, your father got home just in time for us to get you to the hospital, dropping your sister off at the Chibuike's." She took a breather again.

By this time, I was already seated on one of the stools in the kitchen, not sure I'd be able to keep being on my feet for the rest of this story. The revelation was hitting me back to back, piling up more things I owed Khalil.

"When we got to the hospital, we encountered another obstacle." She stated, looking at me. "Apparently, the fall from your bed had caused a bit of damage to one of your internal organs. Your ribs were still healing at that point but when you fell down from your bed, it cracked again and punctured your Kidney."

"What!" I exclaimed, not believe my ears. Mum nodded, confirming what I had just heard.

"Yes, your Kidney was damaged and you needed a transplant as soon as possible." She reconfirmed, tears falling from her eyes now that she didn't bother to stop. I began to breath from my mouth in puffs. Shocked to my wits, I began to ask myself why I hadn't known about this earlier, why my parents didn't tell me about this for five years! Why Khalil made them keep it a secret.

It made no sense.

My mind immediately went to the dent towards my lower abdomen. I shoved my shirt up, showing it to mum.

"This dent right here isn't from a cracked rib, is it? It's because I am missing a kidney, isn't it?!" My voice was rising now, almost very sure that her answer was going to be in the affirmative. But mum surprised me by shaking her head slowly, moving closer to me and placing both hands on either sides of my arm.

"No." She answered in a whisper, sniffing right after. " That dent is because you has successfully kidney transplant. We found you a donor." She paused, watching me intently why I prepared myself for what she was going to say next.

"Khalil was your donor, Jamal." She said, knocking me out to oblivion and back. I almost fell off the stool in shock, hands clasped over my mouth in utter bewilderment.

Khalil was my donor...

Khalil donated his kidney to me...

Khalil saved my life!

"He..." Mum sniffed, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. I felt the wetness on my face and I knew I was crying. "He overheard us talking about the situation with the doctor and said he was going to be the donor. He maintained that it was his fault you had a cracked rib in the first place, so it was his way of making it up to you. We tried to stop him. We called his parents down here to make him change his mind but he was adamant. His mind was made up. You of all people should know how strong headed Khalil is." She smiled again at the memory while tears ran freely from my eyes like a torrent.

"So we let him even though it was extremely scary. He gave you one of his kidneys, Jamal. He saved your life." She concluded, her eyes still fixated on me as I sat on the stool, staring ahead, tears falling.

It all made perfect sense.

Why my parents loved him so much. Why they adored him. He had saved their only son's life, risking his own life forever.

"Why?" I whispered out, looking at my mum with bloodshot eyes and running nose. "Why didn't you tell me anything all these years? A lot of bullshit would have been prevented if I had just known. I haven't been fair to Khalil. I owe him so much..."

"This was what he didn't want, for you to feel indepted to him." Mum cut me off. "Giving that it was most likely the major reason your uncle, Hakeem, stopped him from playing basketball ever again. Though Hakeem's ego will never allow him admit it, but he is scared for his son." Mum revealed and I exhaled, feeling even more guilty than I already felt.

I ruined Khalil's dreams because of my own myopic, shallow, paranoid mind set. He was never the bad guy.

He gave up a lot for me and I didn't give him any credit.

I turned everyone against him.

I'm a terrible person.

"My beautiful boy," mum called to me, taking my hand in hers and lifting me up from the chair to stand in front of her.  Though the height difference was clear as day, she was still able to reach my face with her hands, cleaning my tears with her thumb.

"You are not a terrible person." She said like she had heard my thoughts. "You just misunderstood everything."

"I don't know what issue you still have with your cousin but this is the time to fix things. You are smart young man who knows how to fix his mistake. You can fix things with Khalil. You will find a way." She told me and I nodded.

I have to find a way,

And I probably know where to start.

A/N

The truth is finally out.

I dropped hints on the truth at the beginning of the book, in chapter 6 and 9. It wasn't all the obvious so you guys didn't notice. Elyon had seen Khalil's scar from the operation and Jamal had seen it too but neither one them paid any mind to it. None of you guys paid mind to it too.

The truth was way deeper than just Khalil not actually leaving Jamal there to die. Khalil actually saved Jamal's life by putting his own at risk. That's why our chocolate caramel oozing handsome prince, Hakeem Gobir doesn't want Khalil playing basketball again, while hiding under the guise that he wants Khalil to focus more on his studies. Baba is just scared for his son.

It's natural parental instincts, so please don't blame him. Let's just hope Jamal is able to salvage his relationship with is cousin at the end of the day.

The next chapter would start off in Khalil's POV 😪. I've been waiting to write his POV for a while now and I know you guys want to know what is going on in his head. Trust me, it's an haiku of emotions. You might probably cry so brace yourselves.

I'd be updating sometime next week and from there we would be counting down to the end of this book and the final end of the BTS Family Series 😩😩❤️❤️. It's almost as exciting as it is quite painful.

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I'll see you when I see you 😘.