"You're dating Kaian?", They both say surprised
"Yes"
Indiah's mother turns to her husband , "Did you know about this?"
"Of course I did"
She then looks at me and Xavier, "And you guys?"
"Yeah"
"Obviously"
"But since when did you like Kai?", Zion interrogates
"I'm not telling this story again", My best friend replies with boredom
"Did you know?", He asks Malik
He snorts, "Course I did"
"Now Dee that's just ridiculous, you should've told me first. I don't like being the last to know all the time" He was very offended by now
"When you stop acting overprotective I'll consider-
"Don't start with that excuse when Zay and Malik are the same"
"You're worse."
"Cause pops ain't hard on you at all", He defends
"And you know that for sure do you? Cause you're here all the time", Darnel says amused
"You actually aren't though", Xavier agrees
I can't help but laugh and my best friend scoffs at me, "Not funny-
I raise my hands with surrender as I sober
After the little announcement nobody had much to say. Zion wasn't really mad, he was just salty about the fact that his brothers knew and didn't tell him. Also at the fact that Malik was in prison yet he still had updates on all the tea.
**
I tuck a hair behind my ear as I sit opposite aunt Latoya and slide her over a slice of cake, we were all enjoying Xavier's birthday cake in the kitchen so I thought to bring her some before we finished it. I know she feels upset even if she won't show it.
She looks away from her glass of wine and analyses it
"It's from the cake I bought for Zay. I figured you should have a slice before the others finish it" I tell her
Latoya plasters on a smile, "Thank you"
I was about to go back to the kitchen and join the others but I decided to say something else.
"Do you know why Indiah causes all that trouble?"
"I'd love to know"
"To get your attention", I say softly
Her brows furrow, "Well this is a very odd way of doing it"
"Aunt Latoya the only time she ever has your attention is when she's in trouble"
I feel like Indiah and Blair can relate on the parent topic at times because although Indiah's mom isn't flying to a different country every other week, she's present but not present. These days it seems like Latoya only fully tries to have a relationship with Zion because it's almost like she's disappointed in her other children. And don't get me wrong I know Indiah can be a bit much at times but she's just hurting.
She frowns, "That's not true"
I sigh, "What did she just win an award for"
"She won an award?", Latoya says surprised
For being the best head of cheer captain
"Yeah, she did. And how do you think I got a B on my English essay? She helped me"
She looks so shocked
"You always think that she won't amount to anything because you see the bad moments but the truth is Indiah's amazing. She's a great leader and an amazing friend, when we graduate shes already been offered an internship at the vets she worked at for work experience, once she's done with vet school she's already set"
I saw a hint of sadness in her eyes, "But she doesn't share these things with me"
"That's because you're always comparing her to Zion. And don't get me wrong I get that being a nurse is not an easy job but there are days where you're home. She just wants your attention, and I promise that if you're just patient she'll open up to you"
Latoya heaves a sigh whilst looking at all her children in the kitchen, laughing with one another. "I just want what's best for them"
"I know"
"What about Xavier", She unexpectedly asks
"What do you mean?"
"I can't get through to him"
Knowing that Xavier wouldn't want me to talk to his mother about this topic, I look at her hesitantly.
"I don't think he'd want me to-
She nods knowingly, "Yeah I know. Don't worry about it"
She then pulls the plate towards her, "Thank you for this"
"It's ok"
Soon enough I join the others in the kitchen, Zion's by the stove cooking. I smell something really good, not that I'm surprised because after all Zi is probably the best cook in the room.
I was surprised to see that all the cake was gone, Malik and Indiah take greedy to another level when it comes to dessert. They sat there un shamefully with slices that could probably feed about three or four children, and after that they'll still have room for dinner.
"Ya'll need to be stopped. This is gluttony" I scoff
"You should know better than to leave us around cake. And besides this is the first time I've had something decent in awhile, prison food is nasty" Malik protests
"You better have left your brother some", I warn
"Relax, he had the most" Indiah waves me off
I look to my boyfriend for confirmation and he nods.
"Good", I murmur whilst hugging him from behind
Zay holds onto my arms before pulling me to his front and I look up at him, "I know this isn't really how you wanted today to go"
He smiles a little, "You gave me the best surprise so I'm not even upset about it, thank you"
"You're welcome", I kiss his cheek
"Nasty", Malik comments with a disgusted face
"You're nasty", I return
"You're nastier"
"You stole our flying fish"
That's when Zay decided to get involved, "You're fish came to us. Don't be a hater"
"Exactly", Malik laughs
"You still stole it"
"You guys are bringing back the Bajan and Trini war again?", Indiah snorts
"Ree started it", They both reply
"And she lost it", Zion adds
"What like you lost your hairline? You sprayed that shit on I swear-
He holds his head defensively "Hey hey hey, this is natural"
Malik snickers, "Exactly it's natural. You and Dee be the only ones wearing fake hair-
"Woah fake?", We both stop him in his tracks
"Yes I said it-
She waves her brother off, "Respect us please, it's always human hair"
He signals to Xavier, "This is the part where you join in"
"I actually like being alive thanks"
I smile, "So glad you made the right choice"
"Such a pussy", His brothers roll their eyes
He definitely isn't but I'll tell you what though. He loves mine, and now I'm getting flashbacks to the amount of times that I've rode his face.
"No I like the new Xavier", Indiah protests
"Shut up", He replies
"You're nicer now-
"I was always nice"
"Debatable. But you're getting there", I assure him
"You're a bitch to everybody but Ree-
"No I just don't like people I don't know, there's a difference" He corrects
"You make no sense"
They were going back and forth for a little while, I don't involve myself when those two argue, I just watch. Thankfully the heat fizzled out soon enough, the others spoke amongst themselves whilst Xavier and I talked to each other.
"Ok so you know how I'm totally shit with surprises", My boyfriend says
"Yes, I know this"
My eyes then narrow suspiciously, "Why. You telling me you knew about Malik coming home and pretended for the sake of me?-
He snorts, "No. But what if I told you that when you told me you had a surprise for me I still went and booked us a hotel room for the night"
Honestly I should've been annoyed because I'm the one who was supposed to take care of him but he always finds a way to take control.
I just couldn't be mad. Instead a smile plays onto my lips, "Really?"
I see him holding the card between his fingers
"Really", He confirms
"You should've let me do that"
"You should know that I'd never"
I roll my eyes, "Fine. We go after we eat"
"Alright", He agrees with his arm around me
Speaking of eating, I'm starting to get hungry. I pick up a spoon before collecting some of the sauce from the honey butter chicken and having a taste.
The flavours were hitting, "Mmm. That's good"
Zion tuts at me, "So impatient"
"You do know that isn't gonna be enough right, I eat for two people" I remind him
"And I eat for three", Malik says
"You're all just a bunch of pigs. That's why there's two batches"
Indiah's already got her plate ready, "Waiting"
He shoos us, "All of you get out my kitchen"
"Your kitchen?"
"Yes, my kitchen"
"Oh please"
We eventually did leave him be, and can I just say that I ate good. Zion never fails to impress us with his skills.
*
I lean against the wall with my phone against my ear "Yeah the surprise went well, he was so happy when he saw Malik"
"Aw I'm glad. Is Malik talking to his mom?", My mother then asks
I pick at my nails, "Not really. She's trying to talk to him but he's not giving her the time of day"
It went silent for a second
"Am I on speaker?..."
"No"
"He hates her Amariah. Like seriously"
My mom can be very unfiltered sometimes, and I know Malik doesn't necessarily like his mom right now but I think hate is a strong word.
"Well I don't think-
"No baby I mean it, he told me himself and I didn't really know what to say. Just make sure ya'll keep an eye on him"
I stand corrected
I sigh, "Yeah we will"
Xavier comes out of the house with my keys in hand, giving me a look that basically asks if I've asked my mom yet. She thinks I'm staying here.
"Mommy can I go out for the night?"
"Where?"
"Hotel", I answer shortly
"Hotel? With who?"
"Well obviously Xavier"
"Why can't ya'll stay in the house"
"Cause....we wanna be alone"
She's asking too much questions
"Hmm"
"Please?"
"One moment"
I roll my eyes as I hear her start talking to dad
"Hotel"
"What with Zay?", He replies
I couldn't really make out what else was being said
"What'd she say", Xavier asks me
"She basically put me on hold"
"Give me the phone", He says amused
I hand it to him
"Auntie Kota, yeah it's me"
Indiah frowns as she opens the front door with King in her arms, "What are you still doing here"
"Waiting for my mom to say yes"
"Oh she doesn't know?"
"Nope", I reply whilst stroking King
"Hey are you actually gonna quit smoking?", I then ask her
She simply shrugs, "Meh. Dad spoke to me, but parties are my exception"
I smile a little
"Come on", My boyfriend gestures whilst handing my phone back to me
I look at him surprised, "She said yes?"
"Why wouldn't she? It's me"
I gape, "When I asked her she was hesitant"
"I know"
Indiah laughs, "See you guys later"
"Bye", I reply still with shock
Wow, hes gotta teach me his ways
~*~
Xavier leans on the doorframe of the bathroom, blatantly checking me out. I was stood in front of the mirror wearing one of his shirts and some red lacy underwear, he was getting quite the view since I was tying my hair up.
I turn away from the mirror with the hair tie in my mouth, "Yes?"
"You're taking too long", He fusses
"One sec", I tie my hair into a bun before yawning and leaving the bathroom
Xavier unexpectedly picks me up and I let out a sound of surprise, "Oh my-....babe"
"Hmm?", He replies as lays me on the bed
"Why can't you act like the birthday boy", I say amused
Not gonna lie his neck kisses feel really good, "I am acting like the birthday boy. You're my gift" Zay murmurs
I give up with trying to move and just become comfortable with having him on top of me, it's kinda nice actually, "Speaking of gifts" I lazily point across the room at a small gift bag
"You want me to open it now?"
"Mhm"
He gets up and I sit against the headboard whilst waiting for him to come back with the gift bag. I was definitely checking him out as he was picking it up, the way his back muscles moved so effortlessly was just so sexy. "I'm excited"
I tilt my head, "Me too. Come back here"
He smirks after catching me staring, but shit I don't even care cause I'll do that un shamefully all day everyday. Zay comes back over to the bed and I watch as he reaches into it, the first thing he picked up was this medium sized black leather box. Inside it were two engraved bracelets, one gold and one silver.
"I love it", He strokes the engravement on the silver bracelet with his thumb. Both of them had the date that we got together and then at the back it said I love you. Whenever there's a chance for me to let him know I love him I take it, I'll always love him and I'll never get tired of saying or showing it.
"I'm amazing, I know"
"This from J's company?"
"Mhm"
My Godmother owns a company called Jewel haven, and she was more than happy to do these for me for free. Best believe she sells this shit for such a high price which she wasn't about to let me pay, I love Jasmine.
The bracelets were followed up with a few more gifts, chocolate covered strawberries, cologne and a birthday card
Xavier smiles, "You never miss. Thank you my love"
"You're welcome", I accept his kiss before clasping his bracelet onto his right wrist. I chose that one because we call it the Amariah wrist, he just wears all my shit on his right hand. And half of the time I don't even give it to him, I just wake up one day and my hair ties and bracelets are missing, then I see it on Xavier's wrist. It's also the hand he likes to finger me with.
He strokes the charm on one of my acrylics
"How do you even do anything with them long ass nails"
"Excuse me but this is medium thank you very much. And the same way as you" I reply innocently
I'll never get tired of getting them done, perhaps I'll shorten them when I have kids.
"Would you get my initials next time?"
"Pfft, as long as you pay"
"You know I will"
"Then yes. And just so you know, if you ever propose to me when my nails aren't done I'll say no"
"Oh so you wanna get married?", My boyfriend smirks
"Of course I wanna get married"
"Yeah you've had that shit planned since you were nine years old"
"If you start reciting what I said I'm gonna kill you-
"I wanna get married to a tall tall man in Barbados in a big castle with Rihanna performing live-
I roll my eyes as I cover his mouth, "K shut up now"
He used to tease me about that all the time, I was hoping he forgot but clearly not hence why he's laughing behind my hand.
"You're not funny"
I feel a wetness against my palm, also known as his tongue, "You're so nasty"
"Oh please, my tongues in your mouth every other day" He replies whilst lifting the comforter over us
I get comfortable, shifting closer to Xavier and lifting my leg over his. He holds my thigh underneath the comforter and rubs me slowly as we look at each other, I can't even explain how obsessed I am with him.
"You're graduating next year. You excited?"
"To leave school? Fuck yes"
Most people don't know this but aside from sports he's into finance, loves it actually. We're both good at math, although I don't think I'd study finance individually.
"Real estate still on the cards?"
"Yup"
We always talk about the future, which I think is quite good. Xavier always talks about wanting to give back and wanting to be a land owner, own and selling properties. One thing his mom needs to understand is that we're just kids and we're gonna make mistakes, hes already learnt his lesson from the whole drug situation.
"You still wanna go into criminal law?", My boyfriend asks me
"Hmmm, I think I might be interested in corporate law"
"Yeah?"
I nod, "Just a possibility though. Still deciding"
"You've got time"
I can feel myself starting to get drowsy as I lie on him, which I thought I was hiding well.
Zay chuckles, "I don't know why you're fighting the sleep"
"Cause I wanna talk to you", I murmur
"We've got all the time in the world"
"Pfft, ok Einstein" After a moment I shuffle again
"Ree this is as close as you can get"
"I refuse to believe that", Actually he might be right but I want more
"You can keep trying, I don't mind" He says amused
"I want your oxygen"
"You can have it"
Xavier already has his arms around me, there's literally no space in between us and I feel so cozy. It's as close as I can get so at this point I'll just accept it. "Don't let me go"
"Never"
"Get some sleep", He kisses my head as I close my eyes
"Happy birthday baby", I murmur
"Thank you", Zay replies softly
-THE END-
A/N
Been a long couple of months but we finally made it to the end. Just wanna say a huge thank you to everyone that's added this to their libraries and given it a chance, this will be the end of the H.I.M series but don't worry there'll be an epilogue and a bonus. You know I can't leave you without oneð©
Feel free to drop your favourite moments between our faves x