Jaded

16. Plastic Hearts.

"You're doing a good job. I'll make sure I tell him."

"And what about me?" Eazy asked. He was always jealous when Jade complimented someone else in his presence.

"You too...." She paused because she didn't know what to call him. "You did a good job too." She offered. Not knowing his name made her chest ache.

Jade watched on as his little face lit up. There was no doubt about who his father was. He was a spitting image of Eli. He had Chanel's big eyes, but everything thing else was all Eli. Jade knew Zhuri hated that.

In the midst of her daydream Diego must have returned, because when she finally tore her eyes off her little cousin he stood in the door way. He was dressed in a red hoodie and grey sweats. The little drops of water on his shoulders let her know that it was raining outside. She could only imagine what type of nap was in store for her.

"Go wash your hands and get your table ready while I help your auntie Jade."

Eden scrambled out of the room easily leaving E behind. "But we want to help too." He said with his signature pout.

"You can help me next time. If I do it by myself I can get it done quicker." E's feet started to move, but he had no intentions of leaving the room. He looked at Jade as if he was scared to leave her alone.

"Eazy..." Diego called out. By now they had switched places, E hung back in the doorway while Diego kneeled by Jade's side of the bed. They shared one last look before Eazy's little feet could be heard running down the stairs.

"Stop Running!" He stood as he held out a hand for Jade to latch onto. She grabbed his hands and he gently pulled her from the bed until she stood on her feet. Out of habit, he clung to her waist to guide her to their shared bathroom, but she nudged him away.

"I don't need help, I can do it by myself." She said before taking a deep breath. It didn't hurt her to walk, it was bending and crouching that caused the most discomfort. Jade limped over to the bathroom until she was fully inside, leaving Diego's eyes on her back.

She limped over to the sink and surveyed her bruised face. The gash between her eyebrows and scratches along her cheeks looked as fresh as they did the day she entered the hospital. She ignored her daily tears and turned on the faucet to begin her morning routine.

Once she opened the door she saw Diego slouched with his head in his hands. They stared at each other.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing." Jade moved towards the door and made her way to the stairs. He quickly followed behind her, but gave her enough room to walk alone. "I just want to do certain things alone. I can't depend on you for everything?"

"And why not? That's why i'm here."

"Just let me do things on my own."

"Aight, but tell me what I did. I know I did something wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Jade stopped to face him.

"You want to be independent, cool I got that. But what's up with you sneaking out the room in the middle of the night? And you don't kiss me back. I'm not trying to sound like a bitch or nothing, but tell me what I did wrong to make you so uncomfortable?"

"I'm hungry, we should go downstairs." She raked her hands through the mess on top of her head and went down the remaining steps as fast as her body would allow. Jade didn't want to answer him because she feared her answers would hurt him even more. She noticed the faces he made when she didn't return his kisses. And it was almost painful to look in his eyes when he caught her sneaking out of their bedroom at 3am this morning. They would talk about it some other time, just not right now.