𝟹𝟶𝟶𝟻

Makai lightly jogged back to his car before opening the driver's side. He eyed his surroundings to make sure nothing was off before getting inside the car.

"Wait a minute! I think I left my consciousness, in the sixth dimensionnnn" Ari sung making him look at her funny. "But I'm here right now, Right now! Right now! Jus' sittin' inna cloud, oh wow" Tech sung while bobbing his head in the back seat.

Makai turned the music down making them both suck their teeth and straight face him. "Who told y'all ya' touch my radio?" He looked between the two of them.

"Me, problem?" Ari tilted her head to the side and blinked her eyes at him. He stared back at her and raised his brow. He felt like she had been trying him on purpose because they aren't having sex at the moment since she just started birth control and she just got off her period this morning.

"Bet that" He chuckled, turned back around to the wheel, and took the car out of park before speeding off.

"I gotta question," Ari said as they drove. "What?" He glanced over at her then back at the road.

"Why didn't you just set me up at one of your apartments when we met instead of making me move in with you?" She asked and Tech busted out laughing.

Makai tucked his lips from laughing "Best he been plottin' on you since he heard you got robbed by dat crackhead" Tech laughed, and Makai sucked his teeth.

"I wasn't plottin' on ha' " He shook his head.

"Nigga what you call it then? Cuz we asked you the same thing and you ain' say shit. We asked him why he killed the crackhead too when he ain know you like that too."

"She couldn't afford it. Why put ha' somewhea' she couldn't afford?" Makai resorted.

"Why put ha' in yo' house? You put ha' up in yo' space and didn't even let any of us stay over unless we were drunk or some shit" Tech asked, Makai just got quiet.

He didn't know why he was drawn to Ariyah so quickly. He hated people in his space yet he didn't have a problem with her coming to stay with him.

"So you were stalkin' and plottin' on me?" Ari asked, he stopped at a red light. He looked over at her while licking his lips then shrugged with a smirk on his face.

She started laughing "Yo' your crazy as hell for that. I kinda like it tho" She slightly bit her lip. He grabbed her by the chin, bringing her closer to him and pecking her lips.

"Ew! Can y'all neva' do that shit in front of me again?" Tech pushed them apart and mugged them "Fucking disgusting" He grumbled while Ariyah was laughing.

"Nigga I'm about ta' put yo' ass out and let you walk in a second" Makai shook his head before facing forward and pulling off when the light was green. He didn't know why Ariyah insisted on being with Tech today. He knew she needed it though since it was her first time getting out of the house today.

"My best wanted me ta' be there when she signed her papers, now what?"

Today was the official day that Ari bought her bakery. Makai was so proud of her and happy for her. He knew how stressful finding a place was for her and how much she had been wanting this. She deserved it, with all the things that have happened in her life, she needed this.

Ariyah started clapping excitedly "I can't believe I really did it. I gotta bakery" She moved her shoulder up and down "I gotta think of a nameeee, hire peopleee, start renovations oouu I'm excited"

"You not gonna name is Arisweets like on Instagram?" Tech asked.

"Yeah if that's my last resort but I wanna name it something different" She replied.

_________________

"I need her gone befo' my birthday and so my baby don't gotta stay in this house all day" Makai stressed to Tech. The whole time Ari was signing the papers to her building and talking about how excited she was, he couldn't help but think of Sasha.

He had things to do along with his resort about to start getting built. Ari had to be out so she could get her things together so she could open. He didn't need Sasha stopping any of those things.

"Man shit is so wack. She kno' we comin' fa' ha' and she knows mostly everything about how to operate" Tech blew the smoke out of his nose and shook his head.

"Gotta go wit' Lu plan den," Makai said, Tech eyes widened "Nigga what? You can't go through wit' dat shit. Do you kno' how attached you were to ha' befo?" He asked, looking at him crazily.

Makai thought about it then shrugged "Ion giva' fuck bout ha' nomo. It should be straight" He tried to reason but Tech just shook his head while putting the blunt out.

"You lettin' ha' get in yo' head cause you ain thinkin' smart right now," He said, Makai sighed knowing he was right, he just wanted all this to be over.

"Think about it, if you get close to her, how you think that's gon' make Ari feel? How do you think 'y'all relationship gon' stay together? Ari ain' dumb, and she ain't one to tolerate bullshit, we both know that" He explained, Makai nodded agreeing.

Ari was the type to leave someone if she didn't see they had her best interest. No matter if it's a plan or not, she would leave because she wouldn't want to risk it being more.

"We're gonna get ha' fasho. Sasha dumb ass hell but think she smart but she ain't. But you gettin' close to her and fuckin' up what you and Ari got is dead ass hell. I'm not even gon' let you do that" Tech said and stood up.

"You're right" Makai sighed and stood up from the chair. He and Ari just got back on good terms and he didn't want to mess that up again. He never knew how much he didn't like her not talking to him until she did it. His feeling was so hurt but he understood.

They walked back into the house, Tech went straight to the living room while Makai went to look for Ariyah. He was hungry and knew he had to ask her how indecisive she was when it came to food.

He went to the kitchen, smelling the smell of vanilla. When he walked in, his eyes widened seeing her crying and banging her head on the wall. "Amoura!" He looked at her crazily. He always found her doing something weird or having one of her mental breakdowns lately.

She looked up and her eyes got big. She quickly wiped her face and stood up straight. "Yes?" She smiled. He straight-faced her at her acting like he didn't already see what she was doing.

"What is wrong wit' you?" He frowned, walking up to her. He grabbed her face to see if she had a knot on her head or any. It was just a little red and he shook his head.

"I-I messed up. I-I I'm supposed to have this cake out by tomorrow and-and I messed up now I have to start over. I don't think I'll have it out on time" She hiccuped and pointed to the cake that looked like it fell over.

"Suga this can easily be fixed" He tried to reason with her. She shook her head "No! It can't. I'll have to start from the beginning and I don't even think I have a freaking nuff. I'm so stupid" She huffed and started to clean up the mess.

"Yo' chill out." He grabbed her hands from moving so fast since she looked like she was starting to shake. She looked off to the side, her chest started rising high and he stared at her face.

"You gotta chill wit' this bein' so hard on yourself over small shit. Hell in general anyways" He said, untying her baking apron from the back of her.

"Let's talk" He leaned on the counter, pulling her in between his legs.

"Pooda" She whined, with a slight mug "I have to get started or I—"

"Let's talk," He said in a more serious tone, looking her in her eyes. She smacked her teeth and huffed "About what Pooda?" She asked, snatching away from him.

He chuckled underneath his breath before he snatched her up in this kitchen. "Why are you so hard on yourself?" He asked. He noticed it at the beginning but always brushed it off but recently it became more repetitive like the incident last week.

"I'm not." She furrowed her eyebrows together.

He nodded "You are. You be goin' way too hard about you makin' mistakes jus' like you did last week. What's up wit' that?" He asked, she turned away to look off to the side with tears in her eyes.

"Baby" His face softens, gently turning her head back to look at him. "That wasn't the first time that happened," she said quietly.

"What happened?" He asked, putting his hand on her back to rub small circles to comfort her.

"I just turned 10. I was an earlier blossomer from everyone else in my foster home. I didn't know and it was an accident, I didn't think I was ever going to get one honestly, well not that early. But I-I woke up and there was blood all in the bed, it was bad. All on my Pj pants and shirt. I was so confused and my stomach was hurting really bad but I-I had this foster father and-and he was sooo mad." She shook her head, he wiped the lonely tear that slipped out.

"He whooped me for hours because of it. But I swear it was an accident but it was like he didn't care. He just kept calling me nasty and embarrassing and how lil girls don't do that and I should do better." She sniffed.

"You thought I was gonna hit you?" He asked, understanding now why she was reacting like that.

She shook her head "No but I was scared you were going to leave me or something" She shrugged and sighed.

"I have to be hard on myself so no one is mad about my mistakes. And nobody can't say anything that can hurt my feelings that I haven't already said to myself. It's just how I grew up, Pooda" She shrugged and moved from in between his legs.

Makai sighed with his heart heavily now. She was such a sweet and nice person and people really went out of their way to put her down and hurt her. That's how they were so much alike, people kept hurting them and trying to break them but they both kept on fighting.

"Baby but you don't see how hard you be goin' about it? Telling yourself to kill yourself over a simple mistake. You're not a perfect human, everyone makes mistakes" He said.

"I always felt like I had to be perfect so I didn't get hit or something. I have to be tuff and people always told me to kill myself, it's not new from when I tell myself" She waved off, grabbing the trash can.

He dragged his hands down his face at her, not seeing the problem. "You remember that time when we first moved in together and you caught me drinkin' lean and I told you how I was tryna kill myself and shit and you were so upset about it?" He said. She stopped what she was doing and turned around to look at him.

"You were so upset cause what? You were scared that I was gonna take my life." He shook his head. "How do you think it makes me feel hearin' you do it? Over mistakes at that. Knowing your possibility of doing it like you did in yo' past" He raised his eyebrows.

"I-I don't mean to scare you, Kai." She said quietly, seeing how she was being a hypocrite.

"Then stop it." He grabbed her hands "We are both workin' on stoppin' bad habits from our past so stop." He said softly, and she nodded.

"Stop goin' so hard on yourself over the smallest and easiest fixes. Stop puttin' yo' confidence down, and stop threatening yo' life cause that shit is scary as fuck to hear. I see why you were upset back then because hearin' you wanna die makes me mad too" He expressed.

She squeezed his hands and nodded "I can't guarantee that Ima will stop this second but I'm going to trust. I promise I am" She assured and smiled. He smiled back before leaning down to peck her lips "Good, it's supposed ta' be me and you forever" He smirked.

She started blushing "Forever til the wheel falls off" She hugged him.

"You want me ya' help you fix this cake?" He asked, putting his chin on top of her head.

"Yeah, I hope I have enough stuff to fix it" She sighed.

_________________

Charlotte, NC
March 5th
Saturday

🎶But look at what we made
Sure was beautiful🎶

2 you by Mariah the Scientist played in the kitchen.

Ari put the baked seafood rotel in the oven before standing up straight. She sighed when she looked at Ash, watching her space off into space. She had been like that since she came over an hour ago, not saying a word.

It wasn't usually like Ash to do that. Even more, it wasn't like her to come over alone. She and Lu went everywhere together. It also was weird because Ash was usually talking or laughing.

"Suh" Ari called out, putting the oven mit on the counter. Ash snapped out of her daze and looked at her "Yeah?" She said dryly. Ari went into the refrigerator to get them something to drink before going over to the dining table to sit next to her.

"Everything aight? You haven't said a word" Ari asked concerned, turning the music down a little after giving her the bottle of water.

"Umm..." She said and put her head down "I missed my period this month" She said quietly.

Ari chuckled "Lucky," She said then froze. Her eyes widened "Your pregnant?!" She asked excitedly. Ash looked up with a blank expression on her face making her smile drop.

"I'on know, I haven't taken a pregnancy test yet"

"What I miss? Why not?" Ari asked confused, "Wait, I needa call Momo and Kassy?" She asked, Ash, shook her head no.

"I don't wanna get lectured by Mo right now" She sighed. "I don't wanna have a baby right now" She frowned.

"Oh," Ari said "You told Lu?" She asked, now seeing the problem because she knew Lu wanted kids. He wasn't talking about having kids now but he expressed how he couldn't wait for that time for them to come.

Ash slowly nodded "I told him how I missed my period and he wanted me to get a test but I refused. I told him if I am, Ima kill it" She said nonchalantly.

Ari snickered and covered her mouth "I'm you ain't shit fa' that" She laughed in her hand "I know you didn't say it like that" She laughed. That was so mean to say it like that but it was funny at the same time.

"I did and that's when all hell went loose. He said if I got an abortion then he wouldn't—wouldn't be able to still be with me" She choked out making Ari's laughing instantly stop.

"What?" She said softly.

Ash slowly nodded "He deadass said he would leave me if I did it. Like what?" Ash shook her head.

Ari looked at her kinda funny "I mean, can you really blame him?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Ash snapped her head in her direction "Yes! It's my fuckin' body. If I don't want to have the baby then I have that right" She scoffed.

Ari nodded in agreement "You do but he also has that right to leave afterward. It's your body so he can only express how he feels about the situation, yes, but he also has that right to feel away too since he does want a possible baby. You want him to give you that right to make a decision like that but you also have to give him that right not to want to stay with you afterward. Fair is fair," She explained.

Ari wasn't one to agree with abortions unless it was rape but she wasn't about to tell anyone what to do with their bodies. She would support Ash 100% with whatever decision she made but she also was going to support Lu 100% if he wanted to leave her afterward.

"I— I didn't even think of it like that" Ash sighed.

"Why don't you want to have the baby if you are pregnant?" Ari asked.

"Because we aren't married. I'm just now starting up my boutique and I don't want to be stuck as a baby mama forever" She explained.

Ari furrowed her eyebrows "Who said you're going to be stuck a baby mama? You don't think you and Lu are going to be married in the future?" She asked.

"My mom always told me if you have a baby before marriage, you're less likely to get married. A child changes everything in relationships. What if he doesn't see marriage with me afterward?"

Ari jerked her head back "That's not always true. A child changes everything anyways whether you're married or not. If Lu doesn't want to marry you just because y'all had a baby first then Suh you dodged a bullet." She scoffed.

She couldn't lie, she had seen a lot of relationships break up after having kids but in her opinion then the love in the relationship wasn't real and they weren't meant to be in the first place.

"And y'all you have to do is communicate your worries to him first before just making the big decision to just kill them" She added as Ash started crying. Ari got up from her seat and hugged her.

"He prolly thinks I'm so selfish" She cried on her stomach.

"Maybe but think about it like this, if he wanted you to still have the baby knowing you didn't want to, he's just as selfish." Ari held her head.

Makai walked into the kitchen but walked right back out when he saw Ash crying. Ari chuckled to herself and shook her head.

"Y'all really need to get a test first before y'all do all this arguing and hurting each other's feelings," Ari told her and Ash broke down even more.

___________________________________

HEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

A lil filter chapter 🫶🏾

Thoughts?

Makai feel in love at first sight😩

Ari got her bakery!!! Grand opening coming soon🫶🏾

650 votes for an update!!

BYEEEE UNTIL MY NEXT UPDATEEE🦋