Black or White (An Interracial Love Story)

Chapter 20

I don't think I could be happier than I am right now. I'm just getting to DeAndre's house and I seriously can't get Chase out of my mind. Being with DeAndre will definitely knock any thoughts of him out of my haywire brain.

I get out the car and rush up to his apartment. I knock on the door and Marcella answers almost immediately. She pulls me into a tight hug.

"Hey," I say, "You okay?"

"Yeah," She says, I just feel like I haven't seen you in a while."

"Just two weeks." I say with a smile, even though I doubt that's the reason she hugged me like that.

"Oh, it feels like longer. Anyway, DeAndre is in the living room." She says, smiling at me again before disappearing off to her room.

I stare after her a bit longer and slowly walk into the living room. DeAndre is sitting on the couch texting someone on his phone. I walk over to the couch and sit on his lap. He looks up and breaks into a huge grin. There's something off about him though; I can see it in his eyes. He kisses me slowly and deeply. I'm surprised because that's usually how he kisses me before I leave, not when I first get here.

"Is everything okay?" I ask after we pull away.

"Yeah baby." He says, "What movie do you want to watch first?"

I set the snacks down on the ground and climb over to the seat next to him.

"Umm, how about Hitch? I like that movie."

"You wanna watch that again?" He says, sounding like he wants to laugh.

"Yeah, but we don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, it's cool. Anything for you babe."

He pops the movie in and grabs the snacks before sitting down next to me again.

After the movie is over and the snacks are eaten I get up to go to the bathroom. When I come back the living room is all tidied up and the TV is off.

"You don't want to watch another movie?" I ask DeAndre.

He looks up at me and my stomach drops. Nervousness and sadness are etched into his features and that can not be a good sign of what is about to happen.

"What's wrong?" I ask, my voice cracking a bit.

"Come sit by me." He pats the seat next to him on the couch.

I clear my throat before talking again. Fortunately my voice comes out much clearer and confident this time.

"Why? What's going on DeAndre?"

He stands up and walks over to me. He takes both my hands in his much larger ones and kisses my forehead. He leads me to the couch and we sit down. Looking me dead in my eyes he says something that I don't really think is bad news.

"You may not know this but I have all the credits required to graduate. Therefore, I can graduate a year early."

"That's great! It will be weird next year. You know, not being able to see you until after school but that's okay. I'm so happy for you!"

"That's not it though Ivy-Reece."

My smile fades away, and his next words literally make my stomach drop.

"My school situation is kind of convenient because I've been drafted into the D-League. That's the minor leagues for basketball. Hopefully the next step will be the NBA but I'm young and I have time. This is an opportunity I wouldn't dream of passing up. But...I wouldn't really have time for a relationship. So, I think we need to see other people. You, specifically, Ivy-Reece. I won't have the time but you will. You need to be with someone who can spend every single minute of every single day with you. Someone who will make you happy. And, as much as it kills me to say this, I think Chase might be that person."

The tears are literally rolling down my face, but when I hear what he has to say about Chase, my breath catches in my throat. I fell like I'm choking. I don't know what to say; what to do.

"Tell me you'll go after him." DeAndre grabs my face with both hands, making me look him in the eye.

"I...I can't." I manage to choke out, "I want you."

He shakes his head.

"You want me, but you need him. Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be."

I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He wraps his arms around my waist and buries his face in my hair. We stay like this for a good ten minutes before he pulls himself away from me.

"I love you Ivy-Reece Hayes."

"I love you too DeAndre Jones."

This is the first time we've ever expressed our love for each other...and the last.

After a few more minutes of staring at each other, he escorts me to my car.

I'm about to climb in when he pulls me back and gives me one of the most heart-wrenching kisses I think I'll ever experience. I feel like my heart is literally breaking in half.

I get into my car and drive home. When I pull into my driveway, I see Chase's car is there. That triggers my tears again and I run into my house.

I cry my heart out in my room for hours and when I'm finally all cried out I just feel empty. Some three month anniversary this was...

After a while I start to think about what DeAndre told me...Should I really get together with Chase? I know he loves me; but does he still feel that way after how I acted at Walgreens? Who knows...?

I want to make DeAndre proud though so, after a lot of thinking, I think I am going to go after Chase.

What's the worse that could happen? It's not like he'd reject me.

A/N: Alright you Chase lovers...There ya go. I like the way I wrote this chapter. DeAndre let her go because he wanted her to be happy. He's going off to do good things with his life. All the people who have given me ideas are #TeamChase and they always tried to make something happen that would make DeAndre the bad guy...and he's not a bad guy. So I hope you all are happy with the way things are going in the story now. See ya in chapter 21!