Love & Acceptance

Ch. 38

"I don't know where I'd be without her sometimes. She's like family to me." She says.

"I'm sure. I have a few friends that I also think of as family."

She nods, then climbs into bed, making sure to leave room for me and once I have myself situated she pulls me close.

"Goodnight Ari."

"Goodnight Y/n"

It didn't take Y/n long to fall asleep and for myself to become drowsy. I didn't plan on falling asleep, but at some point I lost the willpower to fight it.

—

Y/n's POV:

I wake up feeling warmer than normal and when I try to sit up I feel a weight on my stomach holding me down. I force one of my eyes open and lift the covers to see an arm draped across my stomach. That's when it hits me, everything that happened, with my father, my spiral, and Ariana. The fact that she accepted me for me alone was enough to make my heart explode, but I didn't expect her to stay the whole night. I take a closer look at the sleeping angel that is beside me. Her eyes are closed, lips slightly parted, and her body is nuzzled close to mine. She looks completely relaxed, which makes me feel bad about needing to get up. I do my best to carefully remove her arm from my body and leave the room without waking her. Thankfully we live in an apartment that just had floor work done. So there's no squeaky floor boards, and I took it upon myself when jasmine and I moved in to oil every creaky door. I just can't stand when shit creaks. Once I was free from my room I used the bathroom across the hall, then made my way to the kitchen to get some coffee.

"Welcome back to the living." Someone says behind me.

"Jesus Christ!" I jump, almost spilling my coffee on the ground. Once I've recovered, I quickly turn around and am met with Jasmine.

"Yes my child?" She says with a smile.

"I hate you. It's too early for jokes, and stop scaring me!" I swat her arm and she laughs.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help it, you know how I am." She says.

"Whatever." I tell her as I finish adding creamer to my cup.

"So I take it that things went well with Ariana last night?" She asks.

"It did, and as much as I normally hate when you poke your way into stuff, I'm happy that you did this time. I would have been in a bad place right now if it wasn't for you. Things didn't go well with my father. He only wanted to meet to talk work and about having me take over, and when I told him no he got furious. He shit on my new job, saying it was childish to still be chasing my dreams and whatnot."

"Seems typical of your father." She says.

"Yeah, but the worst part was that because I was so mad I ended up just blurting out to him that I have a dick."

"And what did he think?" She asks.

"At first, he thought I was joking."

"Also typical." She says.

"However, when I told him again before I left that it was true, I could tell that he believed me."

"And how do you feel about it? About him knowing?" She asks.

"Honestly, I don't care. I'm done trying to keep what's left of my shitty family together. I'm done with him. He's had so many chances to keep me in his life and every time he's failed. So I'm done, I don't need or want him in my life anymore."

"If it wasn't seven in the morning and I didn't have to go to work, then I'd totally drink to that." She says.

"Why are we drinking so early?" Another voice says.

Jasmine and I both turn to see Ariana looking half awake.

"We're not, and Ariana I didn't realize you stayed over." Jasmine says, smirking.

Jasmine I swear to god, whatever you are thinking you better keep it to yourself.

"I didn't plan too, but I fell asleep not long after Y/n." She says.

"How cute." Jasmine says, and I glare at her.

Ariana nods.

"Sadly I can't stay much longer because I need to get home to my dogs and to get ready for work." She says.

"No problem, I totally understand. I was literally about to leave." Jasmine says.

"You were?" I ask and see a smirk form on her face.

"Yeah, I'll catch you later Y/n, and I'm sure I'll see you again soon Ariana." Jasmine says, then heads out, leaving us alone, which she totally did on purpose.

"So uh, do you want some coffee?" I ask.

"Don't."

"D-Don't what?"

"Be awkward." She says.

"I don't know what you're talk-"

She raises her eyebrows and gives me a stern look.

"Okay, yeah, I'm sorry. It's just-are you really okay with it?"

"With what?" She gives me a confused look.

"With me and how I am." Why does this feel more embarrassing than last night?

"Y/n. What did I tell you last night?" She asks, taking a step closer.

"That you don't care and that you're not going anywhere."

"Precisely. And my answer remains the same." She says, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"You're sure?"

"Positive." She then leans up and connects her lips to mine with a tender and soft kiss.

"Now get ready for work. I need your help with a lot of things today." She says with a wink, making me blush.

"Okay Grande, then let's get to work."

"It's Miss. Grande actually." She says, grinning.

I pull her in for another kiss, and she smiles into it.

If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I haven't felt this happy in years.

To Be Continued...

A/n: 1. Thank you everyone for being so patient and understanding with me. My life has been CRAZY BUSY. 2. I can't promise when the next chapter will be out, but I won't let it take as long as this one did! 3. I kinda hate how this turned out, what did y'all think? Comment, let me know, and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this!

Much love 🖤