"Papa come get me," Kash groaned into the phone as soon as he picked up her FaceTime call. It had been a busy week and a half since they'd come home from Texas and they barely had any time for each other since they were so exhausted. It was Tuesday now, and Kash was on the verge of crying because she missed him so much.
"Hello to you too," he chuckled, seeing her pout. "What's wrong, P?"
"I miss you! It's been like 8 days since I seen you in person for more than 10 minutes Kasiah. I'm sad," she sighed. "I just been so tired this week,"
"I know, me too," he shook his head. "I miss you too, baby. Don't cry, mama,"
"You know I can't help it," she sniffed with a short chuckle "I really do miss you, can I come spend the rest of the week with you?"
"You know you don't have to ask me, baby. I just don't want you to have to pay for parking. They haven't approved your pass yet, so I'll come get you,"
A grin spread across her face and she nodded. "Okay, I'll see you soon then,"
"Bet," he smirked and she did a little dance before hopping up and grabbing some essentials. She knew he had soap and her face stuff over there, down to the little towels she liked to dry her face with. She was almost positive he used them when she wasn't there.
She packed her duffle bag full of undergarments and going out clothes, knowing she had enough teleworking days stashed away to work the rest of the week from Siah's apartment. She knew he probably had to go to the garage but having to look forward to him coming home already had her excited.
"Daddy! Naya!" Kash called, after her bag was packed. She knocked on their room door and heard her father's voice telling her to come in. "Hey," she grinned.
"Hey, babygirl," Donovan chuckled. He could just tell Siah was coming because she was sulking not twenty minutes ago. "Wassup?"
"Siah's coming to get me, I'm gonna be over there for a little bit, so I wanted to say bye," she left her bag at the door and walked deeper into the master bedroom, walking to her dad's side of the bed to give him a kiss on the cheek, and crawled over to Naya's side to do the same because she was too lazy to walk around the California King.
"Have fun pooh bear! We'll see you on Saturday," she said and Kash nodded. Her mom's baby shower was this weekend, as she was approaching her eighth month of pregnancy, and they were all excited to celebrate the new addition.
After a few more minutes of hanging out in their room, Kasiah texted her that he was outside and she nearly sprang to her feet to go to him.
"Be safe, baby," Donovan said as she grabbed her bag from the door. "Let me know when y'all get there safe,"
"I will! Love you," she cheesed and he reciprocated with a smile.
She happily skipped downstairs and to the door, opening it to see Siah leaning against his car, still in his work clothes with a smile on his face upon seeing her. She felt like she was just discovering she had a crush on him all over again with the way the butterflies were attacking her stomach.
"Whatchu standing over there lookin' at me for? Come here," he chuckled and she laughed, rushing over and he grabbed her bag before easily wrapping his arms around her.
"Hi," she cheesed.
"Wassup?" he smirked and leaned down to kiss her. "How are you?" he wondered, subtly rubbing his hand down her back.
"I'm much better now," she sighed contentedly, and he kissed her again.
After their short reunion, they got in his car and picked some food up before heading back to his apartment. She immediately made herself comfortable on the couch, kicking her feet up, happy to be back here.
"I'm gon go shower, Peanut. Don't touch my wings," he pointed and she just laughed. "I'm laughing?" he chuckled and she held her hands up in surrender.
After he disappeared into the room, she continued eating, pulling her phone out to respond to Aryn's text, showing her a picture of a necklace Davon bought her, and Kash audibly cooed at her phone. Aryn was so happy—Kash of course was happy for her best friend, she deserved all the good things he was bringing her way.
She also responded to Khyren, who told her he'd probably see her Friday since she was at Siah's house and he was probably coming over.
Ten minutes later, Siah re entered the living room with a loud yawn, stretching. He wore a pair of pajama pants and she could the band of his briefs peeking out, but that's all he had on as he shuffled toward her on the couch.
She watched him eat with a small smile on her face, just happy to be in his presence.
"Why is you staring at me? Weird ass girl," he chuckled and she sucked her teeth.
"This exactly why I do not like yo' black ass," she mushed his face and he grabbed her wrist. "Get off me, mean ass,"
"No," he said simply, pulling her toward him, and she huffed. "Whatchu gotta attitude now?" he smirked and she flicked her middle finger up at him. "I mean shit it's been a lil minute, how you want it?" he teased, cracking her fake attitude and making her blush.
"Shut up," she giggled. "How was your day, baby?" she asked, watching as he ate with one hand, the other still latched on to her arm.
"It was aight," he nodded. "I was busy all damn day, I'on know how I'm up still," he shook his head.
"Because the light of your life is here, duh, boy," she said, as if it was the obvious answer. "I missed your stanky ass so much! Oh my gosh, never leave me again,"
"Why I gotta be allat?" he chuckled, as she grabbed his face, kissing all over it. "Sadé please,"
"Please nothing! You love me,"
"Okay, I do, but I'm hungry," he laughed, and she did the same, pulling away. "You can finish when I'm done,"
"Okay," she cheesed and he shook his head—he thought she was a cornball. The cutest one around, but s cornball nonetheless.
"You not sick of kissing me yet?" Kasiah asked, genuinely surprised after she pressed another kiss to his mouth.
"Never," she shook her head. "Your lips taste good,"
"So do yours," he smirked childishly and she laughed, knowing exactly what he meant by that, and the face he was making just made it better.
"If you wanna eat a lil coochie just say that," she teased. "Aht! I was joking, don't start with me," she laughed hard when he opened his mouth to speak again.
Currently they were just in his bed, watching some show he liked on Netflix and talking. As in Sadé's nature, she felt like they were not close enough even though they were laying beside each other already, so she took it upon herself to climb partially on top of him, and stick one of her hands in his pajama pants.
"You are a big ass baby," he chuckled, resting his hand on the small of her back. "I missed you, mama," he said, and she could hear that he really did just in his voice, and she just grinned.
"I missed you too, baby. Lemme kiss on you some more," she pouted and he laughed, pursing his lips for a kiss that she gladly gave, as he held her face in place. "I love you," she sighed once he pulled back momentarily.
"You so mushy," he chuckled. "I love you too, Sadé,"
For some reason, she liked when he said it that way. It just felt so much more real when he put her name on it. It felt like a promise, like one that was real and wouldn't break. Of course, she didn't know what the future held for them but in this moment she wanted to live in it. Let that one promise feel like it was the only thing that mattered—and whenever he looked her in her eyes like he was doing now, it was the only thing that mattered.
The next day, Kash was done work a little early, and she wasn't particularly busy, so she decided to busy herself around the apartment.
His place wasn't particularly messy, but she wanted to make it look extra nice. She knew coming back to a clean house after a long day like the ones he had felt amazing. So, she took the liberty to do just that. She started in his room, straightening up the little bit of things he had out of place, and putting the dirty clothes in his hamper into the laundry.
She lit a candle in there, and moved on to the bathroom which didn't need much work at all since he cleaned it pretty much every time he used it. After that was the living room, which she just vacuumed, and sprayed fabric febreeze all over the couch.
Lastly was the kitchen. She washed the dishes he used that morning and wiped everything down—it now smelled like lemons. She took it a small step further and started making him dinner, which was what she was doing currently. The kitchen still looked as spotless as when she started, since she cleaned as she went.
"I put your picture in my mirror," she sang to herself, stepping out of his bathroom after a shower, singing along to When I See U by Fantasia. "Start to blush when somebody says your name," she sat the speaker on the counter as she checked on the food.
She danced around the kitchen, and was trying a little bit of everything when she heard keys in the door, making her pause her movement, peeking around the corner, to see Siah coming in with a yawn, stopping when he smelled the candles, and the laundry—and the food.
"Huh?" he spoke walking deeper into his apartment, missing Kash watching him with a slight smile on her face. "Baby?" he called peeking into his room, seeing it completely clean with a made bed.
"Hi Papa," she called from the kitchen, causing him to turn around and see standing in the kitchen doorway, wearing a long sleeve t-shirt of his with a shy smile on her face. "I hope you don't mind,"
"Don't mind?! It's fuckin' spotless in here," he looked around. "You must want some dick or somethin'," he mumbled.
"Kasiah!" she laughed loudly. "I just wanted to do something nice for you! You know, you work really hard, and you don't live with your dad anymore, so you have to do everything by yourself," she shrugged.
He looked around again, seeing everything she did, and his heart started to get warm. "Man, thank you, baby. I appreciate you," he turned back to face her and her smile only got bigger. "It look good as hell in here," he emphasized, walking over to her and grabbing her face to kiss her repeatedly.
"I tried," she cheesed, basking in the affection. "Okay, okay, go shower so we can eat," she pushed him toward the bathroom and he just bit down on his lip staring at her, before shaking his head briefly and walking off to the bathroom.
After Siah's shower, he exited the bathroom to see Kash making a plate. "That's for me?" he asked eagerly, rushing over to see what she cooked. If it tasted anything like it smelled he was in for a very good dinner.
"Mhm," she nodded. "You need to go grocery shopping, but I worked with what I had. I made chicken, mashed potatoes and I did gravy on the side since you like it—weirdo," she chuckled, since she hated gravy. "And I made green beans too, but that's all," she explained, pointing to everything on the plate.
"It smells so damn good," he practically drooled over his plate, and she laughed, handing it to him. "Thank you, baby," he bent to kiss her forehead and rushed to his small table. She joined him shortly after and he blessed the food as fast as he could before stuffing his face.
"Kasiah!" she fussed with a delayed laugh. "You are gonna choke, slow down,"
"I'a be fine," he said, taking a big gulp of water. "This is real good, P, thank you," he said again, and she nodded with a smile.
He wasn't at all expecting any of this when he came home, since she had to work today too. He was expecting for them to eat something quick and take a nap—and probably stay up way later than they should. A clean house, folded laundry, candles and a home cooked meal was probably the best thing he could have come home to.
All of that, plus the fact that she was so happy to do it made it so much sweeter to him. This could be the first and last time she ever did this, it was the fact that she did it that was getting to him.
"Sadé," he called to her, and she looked up from her plate. "I love you, thank you. I keep saying it, but for real," he expressed and that same grin spread across her face.
"You always do nice stuff for me, baby. You deserve nice things too, so don't even worry about it. I was happy to help out," she told him. "And I love you too, now tell me about your day, work was boring for me and I know y'all got tea in that garage," she smirked and he laughed—because they did.
"So, you know Jason?" he began and she instantly perked up. "I'a take that as a yes—today we found out his girlfriend wanted a threesome for her birthday—"
"Well, I'll be damned," she gasped slightly, and he had the exact same reaction when he heard.
"That's not the best part. My nigga said she brought a girl. And the girl was his damn cousin," he deadpanned and Kash erupted into laughter.
"What type of Tyler Perry ass shit is that?!" she exclaimed. "He didn't see a picture of sis before she came?! His girlfriend don't know his family?"
"Man baby, you asking every single question we asked him. Shit don't make no type of logical sense, that man went out so sad," he shook his head. "Nigga said he didn't see no picture, and he know a whole bunch of girls named Mercedes from Gwinnett, not just his cousin," he explained the same way his coworker did.
"Gwinnett—he talking like the county not huge or something!"
"Exactly. He a dumbass, he got clowned for the rest of the day," Siah chuckled.
"As he should. That sweet home Alabama ass story," she giggled and he laughed that time.
The next night, Thursday, Kash was dead asleep with her legs in Siah's lap at 9:30, when there was a sharp knock at Siah's front door. He furrowed his eyebrows and carefully slid Kash's legs onto the couch and crept toward the door.
She stirred a bit, but didn't wake all the way up, and he glanced back at her momentarily, to make sure she stayed that way before he opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw Khyren standing before him with bloodshot eyes and a tired expression on his face.
"Khy?!" he spoke, eyes widened "What happened bro? Come in, man," he ushered him in, and Khy was quiet as he walked through the door, hands stuffed into his pockets. He wasn't even picking his feet up.
Siah quickly sent Donny a text, telling him to come over as quickly as possible—he had a feeling he knew what happened and if he was right, Khy would need the support.
"Khy, what happened, man?" Siah asked, as Khyren stood aimlessly in the middle of the kitchen. "You wanna sit down? Sadé in there sleep but—"
"Sadé here?" he looked up, and Siah knew at the moment that's probably who he wanted to see.
"Yeah, lemme get her up," he nodded, and walked over to the couch, lightly patting her thigh. "Wake up, mama, Khy here," he spoke, and rubbed her leg until she started to open her eyes.
"Hm? Bubba?" she sat up, looking around. Her eyes were still squinted up so she just saw Khy standing there, and got a little excited. "Hi Bubs!" she waved a little and he waved back. She motioned him over and he came and sat by her, which was when she saw his eyes.
"What's wrong, Khy?" she woke all the way up, scooting closer to him. He just sighed and leaned his head on her shoulder, speaking volumes to Kash.
Of the two siblings, Sadé was clearly the more expressive. She talked while she cried, she talked period. Khyren, on the other hand, was an avoider. He didn't mind talking, but when he was very emotional, he knew once he started talking he'd cry, and he didn't want that. So, he did this instead. Usually he would hug his father or go lay in bed with Sadé while she watched tv, and it always helped, but now he wasn't sure anything would help.
Donny arrived ten minutes later and looking around, Khy figured he'd have to fess up now.
"We-we...me and Ava—we're done man," he spoke shakily and Kash's eyes doubled in size. She knew nothing of any relationship problems they were having so this came as a complete shock.
Siah on the other hand was expecting this. He didn't want to wish it on them, he genuinely hoped they had gotten some semblance of peace back in their relationship, but a bigger part of him knew better than that.
"What happened, Khy?" Adonis asked, being the first to speak of the three.
"It-it was like we were both waiting for the right time to say something," he sighed.
Khy walked through the door of his apartment, seeing Ava sitting on the couch just staring into space. He stared at her, wishing he could go back. Nothing was the same, it was almost palpable how much had changed between them at this point.
They were walking on eggshells at home, knowing the wrong words could set the other off amd there they'd be in the middle of another pointless argument, another night of silence and sleeping on opposite sides of the bed as far apart as possible. Another morning of no goodbyes and an evening of no hellos.
It was painful, but they didn't know where to go. It was a dead end with no turns, something had to give. Someone had to give.
"Khyren—,"
"Ava—," they spoke at the same time, which actually caused them both to crack a sad smile. It was like from that point forward, they both knew how tonight would end.
"What are we doing, Ave?" Khy sat down, and glanced over at her, as she ran her hands over her face.
"We-we're holding on," she spoke in a hushed tone. "Like we always said. We're fighting,"
"But for what? What are we even fighting for anymore?" he asked, to her and to himself. "All we do is yell and argue anymore Ava, and I—," he paused and took a breath. "It's draining me, Ave,"
"Yeah," she breathed out. "Me too, I-I can't keep this up," she sniffed. "But-but I love you, Khy," she whimpered and his heart started to break.
"I love you too, Ava. But...are you still—," he stopped to breathe again, wishing he'd never have to ask this question to the woman he thought was his end all be all. "Are you still in love with me? Are we still in love with each other?" he asked as if he already knew the answer.
He heard her choke back a cry, and his eyes started to water.
"I-I don't know," she barely could speak properly. "I really don't know,"
"Well," he sighed, his own voice begging to crack, a single tear rolling down his face. "I think...I think it's best that we take time to figure that out," he said, not being able to bring himself to look at her even for a second, because he knew exactly what look she had in her eyes and he couldn't take it. Not right now.
"If we're gonna save the love we got for each other we can't keep doing this, Ava," he explained, because she hadn't responded, she was crying.
"I know," she mumbled. "But-but it still...it hurts Khy,"
"I know," he repeated, barely above a whisper. It hurt worse than he could have imagined. "I'm sorry,"
"M-me too," she nodded. "A-are you gonna stay?" she wondered, knowing the answer, but secretly wishing she was wrong.
"I don't think I should," he shook his head, and her head fell.
"Can I—well can you, before you go," she tried to speak, and Khy knew what she was trying to say, because he wanted it too. So, he finally looked over at her tear stained face briefly, causing her lip to tremble at the sight of him crying, and he wrapped both of his arms around her, sparking a complete breakdown.
She cried and her shoulders shook. He pressed his lips together, staring at the picture of them at her college graduation on the wall, tears falling onto her shoulders, as he rubbed her back and tried his best to hold her and himself together for as long as he could, because he was sure this was the last time.
"I'm sorry," she kept repeating.
"I'm sorry too," he sniffed. "I love you, Ava,"
"I-I love you too, Khyren,"
Kash's hands covered her mouth as Khy explained what happened earlier tonight. She didn't know when this started, how it happened or why it happened but to see Khy in so much pain was really breaking her heart. Especially because she knew all too well how it felt.
"A-after that, I packed some stuff and-and I came straight here," he said, fiddling with his fingers. "Shit hurts man," he spoke lowly, voice starting to crack. "I'on know what to do, it's like...everything just...it just stopped," he expressed.
Nobody really knew what to say. Whether to say they were sorry, that they were there for him, that it'd be okay, he'd be alright. Nothing felt right at the moment.
But, when Kash saw him start to tear up, she remembered all the times he was there for her while she cried. Every time he wiped her face and let her know he was there and he was always going to be there, how he remained the backbone she needed to stand up straight in her time of weakness, and despite all her tries to just let herself fall, he held her up.
It was her turn to be that for him now, and he needed her.
She walked over to him from Siah's side, hugging him around his shoulders, and letting him lean on her, until he hugged her back.
"It's gonna be okay," she spoke, starting to get emotional herself. "We got you, it's gonna be alright," she mirrored his words that he used to tell her to bring her some comfort and he nodded, knowing she was trying her hardest to make him feel better.
Adonis and Khy looked on, before glancing at each other, knowing he needed this, and also knowing from this moment he'd need them more than he did when they were having problems. By the way he was reacting, they could tell he really was trying to make it work, and now not only did he feel like he failed, he lost his girlfriend.
They couldn't imagine how he was feeling and they just knew they had to step up and be to Khyren what Khyren was to anyone else in their time of need. He deserved that from them.
After Khy got himself together a bit, he talked to the guys for a moment, before he decided ge wanted to sleep everything off. They told Donny goodnight, and he went on his way, and Siah left him a blanket and pillows, before joining Kash in his room.
"Baby, he's gonna be okay," he said, seeing her just sitting in his bed with tears in her eyes.
"I-I know it's just...why didn't he tell me? How long had they been going through this?" she sniffed and he honestly felt a little bad for her being out of the loop.
"He just didn't want you to worry baby," he said, climbing into the bed with her, sitting beside her. "He didn't want you to be all stressed out over it,"
"But I'm worried now," she pouted, looking close to tears. "He looked so hurt, I never seen him like that before," she sniffed. "He-he looked so sad,"
"I know, it hurt me too," he sighed. Seeing his best friend in such a state was painful for him, as he was sure it was for Adonis as well. "All we can do is be there for him, he needs it," he spoke, rubbing her back.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm-I'm gonna go check on him," she resolved, standing up from the bed and creeping back into the living room.
She stared at the couch, in the darkness, knowing Khy wasn't sleeping. If she knew him at all she knew he couldn't get good sleep like this.
"Bubba?" she spoke, waiting a few seconds for a reply.
"Yeah?" he mumbled, prompting her to walk over to the couch and sit on her knees by his head, where he lay with his arms behind his head, staring straight up.
I just...I wanted to say that I love you so much and whenever you need me I'm gonna be here, okay?" she said and he turned to face her. "I promise," she smiled a little and held her pinky out to him, causing him to crack a small smile back and wrap his pinky around her smaller one, holding it tight for a second.
"I love you, too Sadé. Thank you," he said quietly.
"Always," she grinned and gave him a kiss on his cheek before going back to bed herself.
hello hello, i hope yall don't hate me chile. its been a long month 😭
sorry for the wait, ive been very busy, im starting my first semester of college soon :) so i been dealing with that AND loss of inspiration idk what happened.
but we back! so let's get into it, shall we?
kash and siah been away too long 😭 they misseded each other.
how do we feel about kash playing wifey for her man? and how he responded to it?
khyren 🥺 he's going through it y'all. we gotta be there for our boy. how did yall like that lil flashback? lmk! i wanted it to be sad lol.
that promise parallel is one of my favorite parts about this whole chapter ngl.
lmk your favorite lines or scenes here!
till next time friends ❤️