thank you guys sooo much for 90k!
𝘼𝙉𝙄𝙅𝘼 𝙇. 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝙀
𝘋𝘌𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘐𝘛, 𝘔𝘐𝘊𝘏𝘐𝘎𝘈𝘕
𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟯𝟭𝗦𝗧
𝐀 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐊 at the front door was heard, making Anija look up from her phone as she was eating a bowl of cereal. She stood up and straightened out her clothes before walking over to the door.
When she opened it, it revealed Jahmeer standing there, making her smile. "Hiii," She smiled, hugging him and he hugged her back.
"Wassup pretty, you ready?" He asked once they pulled away.
Anija was joining Meer and his family to go to church. It was New Years Eve and Anija figured she could end the year off with going to church, hoping she would like it and make it a cycle for the next year.
"Yeah.. I was eating but it's okay," She pulled him inside and closed the door since it was cold outside.
"What you was eating? Cereal?" He asked, chuckling as he wiped the side of her mouth that had some milk on it.
"Yup.." She quickly went into the kitchen so she could clean up her mess, Meer following her tail.
"Where's your mom?" He asked, watching her carefully put the cereal in the trash and waste the small milk in the sink, quickly washing the bowl after.
"Still sleeping," She told him. It was only 10 in the morning and usually her mom would be wide awake but she had no work and took advantage of the time off she had.
Anija then turned around and took a good look at Jahmeer's outfit. He wore a pair of light blue jeans, a "Dusty Beige" Essentials hoodie, with New Balances 530 "Beige Angora" on his feet.
"Do I look okay? Did I overdress or underdress?" She asked. Somehow they were coincidentally matching. She wore a pair of light blue mom jeans over her white, long sleeve body suit, a cream, long sleeve Cardigan Sweater over that. She was going to put her on her Sand colored Tasman Ugg slides with it.
"You look good Anija.. why you all cautious bout what you wearing?" Jahmeer asked, walking closer to her.
"Cause.." She trailed off. "I don't wanna get judged."
"By who?" He scrunched his face up.
"Anyone," She shrugged. She was used to getting judged on, especially at her old church which was why her and her mother stopped going.
They would judge her because of what she would wear, sometimes it would be the simplest thing but strict and ignorant adults still made something out of nothing.
"Anija.." He trailed off, grabbing her hands and leaning down to peck her lips before speaking. "My church isn't judgmental at all. You're gonna feel welcomed almost immediately, I promise. No one's gon judge you."
Anija nodded. "Okay.. let me get my shoes. Is it super cold? Do I need a jacket or am I fine?"
"Not that cold, ain't like we gon be outside anyway," Meer shrugged and she nodded as she slipped her shoes on.
She then grabbed her purse off the kitchen island before they headed out the house, she made sure to lock the house door and text her mom that she was leaving before she left out. They walked up to Jahmeer's dad's truck where his parents and siblings were waiting for them.
Anija felt herself getting nervous as they got closer to the car, she knew it was because she wasn't sure how the elder lady would act today. Some days she was decent, other days she just acted like a complete jerk. Anija had mixed feelings about her.
When they got into the car, Jamie and Janiya instantly greeted Anija, even wanting to jump out of their seats to hug her. "Hi Anijaaa!" They spoke in unison.
"Hi guys," Anija smiled, looking back at them and waving. "Hi Mister Keith, Hi Miss Amelia," She greeted the parents.
"Hey.." Amelia replied shortly, glancing back at the younger girl and looking her up and down before turning back around.
"Hey Anija. How are you?" Keith replied.
"I'm good, you?" Anija said.
"I'm not too bad myself. You ready for church? Is this your first time?" He asked.
"No it's not my first time but it's been a while since I've been to church so it kinda feels like it," She chuckled awkwardly.
"Are you a Christian?" Amelia asked, looking straight ahead.
"Yes.." Anija slowly nodded.
"Then why don't you go to church? What could you be doing on Sundays that's better than going to church and praising the lord?" Amelia said, throwing Anija all the way off.
Anija glanced at Jahmeer who was slowly looking up from his phone now, a frown on his face as he looked at his mother. He felt like she was doing this on purpose now. She could never be around Anija without saying something smart or criticizing her about something.
Before Anija could reply, Jahmeer's dad spoke up. "Christians don't judge, Amelia."
Amelia looked at her husband with her face scrunched up. "Excuse me? I'm not judging her, I'm just asking a simple question Keith."
"And I'm just saying it didn't mean to be asked. It's immature and questions like that make people feel uncomfortable. Especially the way you said it. Sometimes it's not what you ask, it's how you ask it," He expressed.
"Are you kidd— Anija, am I making you uncomfortable?" Amelia turned around to look at her.
"I—"
"That question alone just makes someone uncomfortable! Just stop Amelia," Keith shook his head. Amelia glared at him before a few seconds before looking away, shaking her head and letting out a scoff. She was going to spare him for now just for the sake of the kids but he would definitely hear her mouth later.
Jahmeer just smirked slyly, glad that his dad checked his mom before he could. He was glad he didn't have to do it because if he did, it would've been considered "disrespectful." Though that's all Amelia had been doing since she met Anija, disrespecting her, even when she wasn't around. Anija didn't know that though.
The car ride became awkward with a great silence so Keith put some gospel music on for the time being.
Jahmeer noticed Anija's tenseness so he reached over and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together. She looked up at him and gave him a faint smile before looking out the window..
𒊹︎ 𒊹︎ 𒊹︎
The service was over after about 2 hours. Everyone was getting up from their seats to either get food from one of the smaller rooms in the big church, or to go greet the pastor. The first thing Jahmeer did was grab Anija's hand, leading her to his pastor.
"Where we going?" Anija asked, following him nonetheless.
"I want you to meet somebody," Was all he said and they walked until Anija became face to face with the person that had preaching today.
"Pastor.." Jahmeer said making the older, sagacious lady look away from the person she was ending a conversation with. Her eyebrows raised and she smiled when she saw Anija. "This is Anija, my girlfriend. Anija, this my pastor, Mrs.Alyssa."
"Well hello.. I'm glad I finally get to meet you," Alyssa smiled holding her arms out to give her a hug, Anija immediately walked into them and laughed a bit, feeling comfort as they held each other.
"Hi.. it's nice to meet you too. I really enjoyed the service and your preaching today," Anija said politely as they pulled away.
Anija was lowkey confused and surprised that the pastor knew her since she was just a guess. But little did she know, Jahmeer told his pastor about her long before and she had been asking him to bring Anija to church so he did exactly that.
"Thank you sweetface, I'm glad you came. I'm hoping we can connect and maybe I'll see you here more? Only if you're comfortable but we're always welcoming new people with open arms," The pastor suggested.
"Of course, I think I'll be here more often," Anija said truthfully. She actually enjoyed church today and to her surprise, she didn't fall asleep. She hated falling asleep because it was quite disrespectful but she was young and tired, her church service started early in tte morning.
Not only that but the preaching itself touched her heart and had her wide awake, listening and even taking notes closely. She was honestly grateful that Jahmeer brought her to church because she hardly ever even considered it before.
"That's good... and thank you for finally bringing your girlfriend here Jahmeer," The pastor playfully shoved Jahmeer's shoulder making him chuckle. You could definitely say Jahmeer and his pastor were close, she was like a mentor to him.
"I told you I would eventually," He shrugged. He didn't want to push the idea of church or religion on her because it could sometimes get complicated but he wanted to end the year off with some gospel in both of their spirits. And he did exactly that.
"Good good... thank you for letting me meet her. Hopefully I'll see you next Sunday?" The pastor asked and Anija quickly nodded. "Good. It was nice meeting you again, you seem like a very sweet and intelligent young lady."
"Thank you," Anija smiled and waved as the elder lady walked off. She then looked at Jahmeer. "She likes me!"
"Of course she likes you, why wouldn't she?" Jahmeer chuckled, wrapping one arm around her waist and leading her to where his parents, siblings, and everyone else were.
Before they could exit the church, Jamie came running up to them making them stop in their tracks. "Anija! I got you a donut before they ran out! This is the lastttttt one."
"Aww thanks Jamie," Anija cheesed, grabbing the chocolate covered donut from her.
"What about me?" Jahmeer asked and Jamie made a face.
"Ummm... I was bringing you one but then I accidentally took a bite of it on the way over here," She held up the half bitten donut making Anija burst out laughing. "You can still have it if you want!"
Jahmeer sucked his teeth before looking at Anija who was cracking up. "You laughing?" He raised an eyebrow before quickly taking a big bite out of Anija's donut making her gasp.
"Meer!" She tried not to yell but she couldn't help it, nobody was paying attention anyway. "Why would you do thattttt!"
Jahmeer was now the one cracking up as he chomped on her donut obnoxiously while she just glared at him. She was actually mad too.
"It's okay Anija, you can come with me. Let's leave this bully," Jamie grabbed her hand and pulled her along with her.
Anija glanced back at Jahmeer and mugged him, she honestly would've flicked him off if they weren't in church.
𒊹︎ 𒊹︎ 𒊹︎
Anija and Jahmeer walked hand in hand into a Winter Holiday Carnival that came around their city every year. The carnival was filled with Christmas colors, trees, flashing lights that stood out more since it was 10 PM, now dark outside.
There were some rides, games, people conversing and little kids playing in the snow. Anija loved the sight.
Kema and D1 stood beside the couple, being that it was sort of a double date. The whole idea of the carnival was Jahmeer's.
At first, they were going to invite Anija's mom until they figured out that she was actually already going out tonight. Anija was shocked nonetheless but decided to ask all her questions when the next day comes.
"Danggg, why we never heard of this before Anija?" Kema asked her bestfriend.
Anija shrugged. "Ion know but this is niceee."
"It is. We needa take pictures," Kema told her and she nodded in agreement. Kema then looked up at D1. "You too. We taking pictures?" She asked him and he nodded.
"What you wanna do first?" Jahmeer asked Anija as her eyes just wandered around the carnival like a kid that was easily distracted and entertained.
"I don't know. It's so much to choose from," She shrugged, glancing up at him.
They continued walking further until Anija stopped, seeing an ice rink. "Let's go ice skating!" She said, pointing at the line. "The line short and all. Cmon."
"You know how to ice skate?" Jahmeer asked as she dragged him along to the rink.
"No but it looks fun," She shrugged.
"Won't look so fun when you buss ya ass huh?" He joked and she slapped his arm, making him burst out laughing.
"You're annoying. You wanna do it or you being pussy?" She tilted her head at him and he scoffed, waving her off.
"Ain't never been pussy. Cmon," They went straight ahead into the short line and both got a pair of skates.
Kema and D1 ended up separating from them because Kema wanted something to eat.
As soon as Anija stepped on the ice rink, she lost her balance and almost fell until Jahmeer caught her, cracking up as she held him with a look of terror on her face. "It can't be that bad Anija," He laughed.
"It is! Ion think I wanna do this anymore... cmon, try it for yourself and see," She urged him, still holding onto him tightly. "This shit worse than regular skating."
Jahmeer stepped foot on the rink and began to slip a bit until he caught his balance quickly. He then turned to Anija and held his hands out for her to hold them. "It's not that bad.. cmon."
"Boy you stepped on it and don't know how to act. As soon as you try skating you gon buss ya ass," She rolled her eyes, grabbing his hands.
"And you gon be coming right down with me," He held her hand tightly, not wanting to admit he was lowkey scared too.
"I bet I ai— AHHHH," Anija let out an ear piercing scream when they went crashing onto the floor of ice after not even traveling a good distance of 5 feet.
Jahmeer laid back flat on the ground, laughing as Anija tried to get back up but was failing miserably due to how slippery it was. "Meer! What is wrong with you!?" She scolded him, only making him laugh harder.
"Oh my goshhh I can't get up! All these people looking at us crazyyyyy," She complained and he finally decided to get back up, pulling her up with him.
"Ion think I wanna skate anymore," She rubbed her back with a frown on her face.
"Nah, this what you wanted right? You ain't giving up now. Cmon," He pulled her to the edge of the rink, holding onto the sides so they could at least get a vision of how exactly they were supposed to do this.
After skating, they went to do a variety of things like playing game for prizes, Jahmeer winning Anija two teddy bears, taking pictures at every little scenery Anija thought was cute, and getting on more rides. But they wanted to end the night off on the Ferris Wheel, wanting to get a better image of the fireworks that would go off at midnight.
So that's what they did. Anija carefully sat across from Jahmeer in the Ferris Wheel, one of her teddy bears in her hand as he held the other one since it was bigger. Anija checked her surroundings before looking at Jahmeer who was already staring at her.
"What?" She smiled, tilting her head while he just gazed at her. He smiled softly making her laugh. "Can you stop?"
"I can't look at my beautiful girlfriend," He laid back in the seat, licking over his bottom lip.
"I mean you cannn," She dragged, feeling shy all of a sudden.
They stared at each other until she couldn't hold the eye contact anymore. Anija picked up her phone from on her lap as the ride started, getting ready to take a picture as they traveled to the top.
Jahmeer didn't stop staring at her though, he was really admiring her beauty, her side profile was basically perfect to him. Everything about him was. Not only that, but he had something on the tip of his tongue, ready to just spill out already. he didn't know how much longer he could hold it in.
"Wanna make a TikTok?" Anija looked at him and he nodded slowly. She squealed, going to TikTok and the top sound in her favorites. "It's this one, you know it?" She asked, playing the song "Wassup Gway".
He shook his head and she went to a video to show him an example making him nod, now catching on. "Okay record me first," She handed the phone to him, already having the timer on.
"Wassup Gway! In the cut with my twin we be vibing," Played as she did the dance and then the sound stopped. He handed her the phone and she watched the clip before nodding in satisfaction, getting ready to record him next.
"You know how it do it?" She asked and he laughed shaking his head. "Boy just copy me!"
"Aight cmon," He chuckled.
"Classy bitch but they know I be outside with it," Played and she laughed as he did the dance, or at least tried to. She saved the video to her drafts after watching it altogether, deciding she would caption it and post it later.
"Cmere," Meer said making her look up. She then stood up and he pulled her on his lap, immediately latching his hands around her waist. "What time is it?" He asked, resting his chin in the crook of her neck.
"Almost 12... almost New Yearsss," She smiled, looking at the time. "I'm glad we get to start the New Year together."
"Me too," He replied. "Gimme kiss."
Without another word, she grabbed both sides of his face and kissed his lips softly. His hands traveled to her neck and he pulled her closer than she already was, deepening their kiss. Anija began laughing when he started nibbling on her lip and pulled away.
"Move, hungry ass," She mushed his head away but he only drew himself closer to her.
"So what's your New Years Resolution?" She asked, looking at the view ahead of them.
"Hmmm.. spend more time with you forsure. Get back into the habit of working out, keeping my shit organized. Shit like that," He replied with a shrug. "What's yours?"
"I don't know... life is going pretty decent right now not gon lie. I have everything I want as of right now, I'm really grateful for how life is going right now. All I can say is I wanna better myself mentally," She expressed as he just listened to her closely.
"And how you gon do that?" He asked after a few seconds.
"Ion know.." She shrugged. "But I'll figure it out."
Jahmeer nodded, looking the direction she was looking. They were quiet for a moment, just enjoying the ride until he glanced back up at her. "Anija.." He called out.
"Hmm?" She answered, still looking straight ahead.
He stayed quiet for a few seconds, preparing himself for what he was about to say. "What if I told you I loved you," He said, watching her face closely to see her reaction and he could've sworn he saw her eyes light up. She was quiet for a few moments, like she was thinking before speaking.
"Then I would ask.. what do you love about me? Why do you love me?" She replied, finally meeting eyes with him.
He smiled a bit, not even having to think too hard about the question. "I would say... I love your smile, I love your spirit, I love seeing you walk in a room and warm my heart up, I love your goofiness, I love your selflessness, I love how real you are, I love making lil ass tiktoks with you even though I claim I don't, I love how you make an effort to get along with my family.." He paused for a moment.
"I love your kisses, I love your hugs, I love your touch, I love how you support me and never missed any game of mine since we met, even if you weren't cheering, I love.. you. I just love you," He expressed as she just stared at him. She felt nervous under his gaze and his words honestly had her lost for words.
It was then when she realized that the feelings she had for him reciprocated the exact same. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved him too. There wasn't a time limit to love and she had to experience it to actually realize it.
"I love you, Anija," He repeated, letting her know he was serious.
"I— umm. I love you too Meer," She replied, though she didn't sound so sure to him. "I'm serious. I think I realized that a while ago but I was scared to say it. How can I not love you? You're my boyfrienddd and you treat me so right and I love being around you and I love.. you!"
"Hmmm.. ion think you're so sure. Say it again," He smirked.
"It's kinda weird saying it but it feels right with you... like, I love youuuu," She dragged.
"I love you more," He pecked her lips before tapping her phone, seeing it was 11:59 PM.
Fireworks were already starting to go off and when the 30 second mark came, everyone started counting. Anija wrapped her arm around Meer's neck, taking a picture of them. She was so glad to be going into the New Year with him.
____________________
hiiii
thoughts?
they said the L word...
yall i have a date in a couple hours and im kinda nervousss
fuck kinda bitch im nervous!
my stomach hurt omg bye
300 votes!