Below The Belt

Round 26

Tyreek's POV

I have a few days I can recount as the best days of my life.

Moving to New York could count as one. I met all of my favorite people there, of course.

Meeting DeAndre that special night was definitely a top favorite.

The day DeAndre revealed to the world that he was mine, of course.

But the number one best day of them all...

Was watching my parents be taken away in handcuffs. I watched it on the news while DeAndre held me tightly in his arms in case I started to panic again. It was public. They'd been walking out and about before police cars pulled up around them. I watched as handcuffs were put on them, watched as they were put into the back of the cars, and I watched as the forming crowd cheered.

I wasn't even sure how to feel at the time. On one hand, my abusers were finally being arrested and people were cheering for their arrest in support of me. On the other hand, those people cheering were the exact same people listening to the stories my parents spewed in the first place...

Kisses on my head forced me to stop thinking about it as I looked up to focus on Dre. "You good, baby?" He asked quietly as he rubbed my head.

My immediate reaction was to tell him that I'd be fine. But as I looked up into his eyes and felt that stinging sensation behind my own eyes again, I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Imma find me a therapist this week. I never talked about the shit my parents did with anyone but you. I've just let that shit simmer in me for years and expected to be okay just because I pretended it never happened... But I ain't okay."

DeAndre nodded his head silently and held me closer to him. "Imma be here 'fore you, baby. Whole time." He promised me quietly.

I didn't doubt that at all. He's been holding me down through all this shit. He and Antwon practically moved in at this point, staying with me everyday so they can watch over me. Once Dre started sleeping with me, staying asleep became easier. I still woke up every night from a nightmare, but it wasn't as bad as it was when he wasn't here.

"I love you, Dre..." I muttered as I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his chest. I heard his heartbeat quicken, but he didn't speak. I know, baby. I know you love me.

I don't know why he was so afraid to say it. He wouldn't tell me... But I suppose it's pretty easy to guess.

He hasn't exactly had a lot of good examples of love in his life. He probably has a hard time associating love with anything good when the only good love he's ever felt was the love he felt for his son.

But that's okay. I can wait as long as he needs me to wait.

We stayed on the couch for a while longer, mostly sitting in silence until Dre held his phone in front of my face for me to see. "Marcus said he and Romeo are comin' over for girl talk."

"Just them?" I asked with a confused frown. Romeo didn't go anywhere without Bianca. They were damn near attached at the hip. "Where B at?"

"Not sure." Dre muttered as he typed a confirmation to Marcus. "Guess we'll see when they get here."

I nodded my head, and after sitting still for another minute I finally sighed and sat up, stretching my limbs and listening to my bones pop as I stood up. "Imma go get the drinks ready." I told him before making my way to the kitchen. 'Girl Talk' always meant drinking, smoking, and gossiping.

"Imma roll up." Dre called after me, making me send a thumbs up over my shoulder as I stepped into the kitchen.

The top cabinets in my kitchen were almost exclusively used for alcohol, aside from the ones that were dedicated to my plates and cups and other regular shit. I don't even really drink like that, but once I realized my house somehow became the unanimous location for girl talk, I just stocked up. As I started to bring down various bottles and pull out whatever chasers and mixers each person preferred, DeAndre came into the kitchen and stood behind me with his head resting on my shoulder and showed me my phone that I left with him. "Quan said niggas been hittin' him up 'bout interviewin' you on some tell all type shit 'bout your parents."