Arthur's p.o.v

"We're here?" Quinn asks from the passenger side as he struggle to pull his seat back up after sleeping almost the whole flight and drive here when he said he wouldn't.

"Yeah."

"You sure your dad settled everything?" he questions me again as we both open our doors to step out and I hum.

"Positive. He knows these people, all we gotta is get the key" I answer absentmindedly looking around the familiar neighborhood. Parking on the same spot my pops did when we moved here a while is making me feel uneasy.

"Aight, I'mma take the bags, you go get the key" he nudges me and I nod feeling a heaviness in my chest area, but I don't think too much of it. I just walk into the apartment that's always been in a poor condition, but we still decided to come here since we won't be staying here for long and it's closer to Jake's.

When I get the key from the guy who owns the place, we chat for a little while and then I go up the stairs to open the door for Quinn who's already there leaning against the door with the bags on the floor.

I make my way inside and stop right in the middle of the living room taking everything in. The place is just like I remember it, minus our stuff that we had here that gave the place some light.

"Which room are you taking, I want this one cause it's bigger" Quinn states getting my attention and I turn around to see him pointing towards what used to be my dad's room.

"Aight, go ahead. We ain't staying for long anyway" I shrug walking up to the nearby window and look down the street. I grab my phone out of my pocket to check the time and before I know it my fingers find themselves tapping on Jake's name in my messages.

I grimace irritatingly and turn my phone back off thinking of how impossible it is to just send a dry text after leaving him on read for so long. I've done it already by a meaningless phone call.

Overthinking is something I don't usually do, but right now it's heavily on my mind and I don't like that. I hate how it makes me feel, I hate how thinking about him with somebody else makes me feel.

"Bruh, you good?" Quinn asks putting his hand on my shoulder and I nod my head still distracted by everything, "I put your bag in your room for you so say thanks and hurry your ass up if you gone do something else before we go find something to eat. I'm hungry."

"I'm aight, don't worry about it" I breathe out turning around to finally go to my room. There's nothing wrong with me, I'm just thinking of ways to fuck the nigga up who has the nerve to go close to him if he decides to reject me. I wouldn't call myself dangerous, I'm just possessive.

As expected, memories flood my mind when I open my room. Not much has happened in here without Jake being involved so it's unmistakably obvious that I'm thinking about him. I trudge towards the bed and let myself fall face first on the pillow with a helpless groan leaving my mouth as I let the thoughts have their way.

°°

"You asleep?" I ask when I hear nothing else on the other end than just even breathing and small movements.

"No, I'm a little sleepy and my eyes keep closing, but I'm really trying not to sleep, I think I'll turn on the lights. Are you asleep?... No y-you aren't, otherwise you uhm...you wouldn't be speaking. Right? Are you sleepwalking?" Jake starts to ramble again as expected and I chuckle.

He's silent and shy during the day, but at nighttime he's more comfortable and ready to talk about the silliest things. Maybe it's because we're not face to face.

"I've been keeping you awake too much?" I question him to be sure because we talk every night, but I don't hear an answer. He must've either nodded or shaken his head thinking that I can see him.

"Oh...n-no" he responds quietly, "I accidently shook my head again, sorry" he breathes out softly as I scratch the back of my neck.

"Ain't nothing wrong with that" I assure him, "but you gotta tell me of I am, aight?"

"Okie I will, but I enjoy talking to you. It's really fun."

"You mean talking while I listen" I correct him playfully and he gasps.

"Do I talk too much?"

"You talk a lot over the phone, but when we're face to face you're all shy and shit like you're nervous."

"That's because I am?"

"You are? Nervous about what cause I told you to tell me whenever someone bothers you so I can handle it."

"No one did anything to me, Art. It's just that...uhm you're a little, no not a little, you're very uhm ...."

"Tempting?" I fill in to see how he'll react.

"Yes" he answers rapidly, "w-wait no, I mean you are but that's not what I wanted to say...at all."

"Don't act like that now cause you were quick to admit it. Tempting huh? That word is hella interesting, explain that to me cause I don't get it" I state cluelessly and by the sound he just made, he must be blushing. That's how he always gets.

"Well...uhm...you're v-very uhm...." he struggles through his words, but suddenly stops, "I think miss Alyssa just woke up?" he whispers unsurely and I let him slide at the mention of his nanny, "I'll go to sleep before she comes to my room, is that okay?"

"No problem" I shrug feeling some type of way. The phone call was getting good.

"Okay, goodnight, Art" he says softly and I hum, "sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite."

"Night, I'mma pick you up tomorrow morning at 7."

"Okay, bey."

"Bey."

When he hangs up I toss the phone to the side of the bed and scratch my head thinking of what to do next. I pick my phone back up when it dings and smirk at the text when I turn it on.

Bunny: forgot to tell you to dream about cute bunnies🐰🤗

me: cool, I'mma dream about you then😉

Bunny: 🙈

°°

I exhale sharply and toss the pillow that I was holding across the room in frustration feeling overwrought by all of this. Hopefully a bath will make it better so that's what I do.

I tighten the durag around my head a little more, fix the white tank top I decide to wear, put my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants and amble out so we can go eat although I don't really have much of an appetite. I kiss my teeth in frustration when I was about to make a left towards the kitchen when I realize that I'm not in my own apartment anymore and that I would hit the wall if I did.

"Let's go" I tell Quinn and his head goes up from his phone.

"Damn, that took long enough" Quinn exclaims taking the car key from the table where I left it. "Where we going and what are we eating cause a nigga is starving" he utters energetically and I just shrug.

Quinn's been around for a while now and everybody's used to him, pops is still trying to figure him out. He said pops told him that he could leave, but he doesn't want to go. I was surprised that nobody called to find out where he's been for three months and when I asked him, he said that he already informed his grandma so there was nothing to worry about.

He doesn't talk about his people very much, but what I've got from what he said some days ago is that he doesn't really know his dad. I don't mind him staying with us though, he's cool to hang out with when he's not bothering me.

"I call shotgun" he calls out when we're finally down making me wince at how loud he is and I give him a look.

"Nigga, we're the only ones here" I remind him and grab the key from his hand.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I need a drink" he nods stepping inside the car, "so when are going to check up on your boo" he mocks me as he puts his seatbelt on and I scoff at that.

As I said, I'm used to him so I don't hesitate to answer, "later on, I don't feel like going now."

"Y'all ain't talk for a while and you decide to go later on just because you don't feel like it? Shit doesn't make sense to me though, you probably nervous. Not that you gotta be cause Jake seems like he'll take you right back" he shrugs and laughs looking out of the window when I start driving.

"I ain't concerned about none of that" I murmur more to myself. I'm well aware of who Jake is and he's probably at his house at the moment reading or doing something cute with Alyssa like he usually does. He won't have the heart to tell me anything bad, but I'll sure know when to back off if I get the vibe that he doesn't want try us anymore.

With that last thought in mind, I step on the gas in search for a place to eat.

~~

I look around at the crowded area in the mall I'm currently in and then at Quinn who's sitting at the opposite side of me finally drinking his much-needed alcohol. A scowl appears on my face when he takes a huge bite on his second burger whilst waiting for the third one and some fries he just ordered.

"You sure you ain't gone eat?" he asks wiping the side of his mouth, but still fails to get the crumbs off. "Either the burger is too fire or I'm hungry as hell. You gotta taste it."

Instead of replying to him, I take my phone out and start scrolling around to occupy myself with something. I don't even know why I came here and I regret the fuck out of it, especially when I look up and a girl sitting two tables away waves at me. When I wave back not to be impolite or embarrass her in front of her friends, she mistakes that with an invitation to come over and she waddles her way to our table.

"Hey."

"'Sup" I breathe out tacitly to let her know I'm not interested, but people can be really hard-headed sometimes so before we know it, our table gets surrounded by her and her friends chatting away with Quinn.

"Tiana" I hear the girl from earlier say and I hum looking up from my phone, "you're fine" she goes on.

"Yeah, what about you" I ask cluelessly because I know what she meant; I just don't want to acknowledge it.

"Oh, great, thanks" she laughs with her shoulders almost touching her cheeks and I frown when she suddenly gasps and backs away with wide eyes.

I was about ask what's up, but before I could, a cold orange substance with multiple small blocks of ice coming falling all over my tank top and my hand immediately go up on my white durag and it's all wet.

"Yooo, fuck's wrong with yo-" and before I could finish that, the soda drenches my face and I quickly close my eyes to prevent it from going in them. I feel something warm gets thrown on my body and by the way they role from my chest to my thighs, I can tell they're fries. I try to open my eyes again, but someone claps their hand right in my face making the salt on the fries fall on my face.

"You ain't shit, niggas ain't shit. Everybody look y'all, this nigga right here is living proof that niggas ain't all of that. Take a close look at him and warn your daughters cause the only thing big on his body is his ego" an angry Deandra with her working clothes clearly on starts screaming to everyone, "I hope you get run over by a fucking car on your dick, you whack son of a bitch, you're an asshole and you.." she points towards the girl beside me.

"Dry ass wig looking bitch, y'all been here since 7 am freeloading of niggas and I bet all of you got herpes. You see this nigga here?" she asks pointing a finger at me, "You can have his low dirty ass, keep him too cause y'all both deserve each other. Dirty ass and a dirty wig make the it couple, y'all are some fucking jokes."

"Dea..." I start but she cuts me off immediately by throwing Quinn's drink at me.

"Don't you dear talk to me. You're so low that it's not even funny. Gosh you piss me off" she spits with her hand folded together looking up as if she's praying for more patience.

I'm confused and I don't even know what's going on so I look at Quinn to see if he has the same look and it turns out that the nigga doesn't even care. He's just staring at Deandra like he's been staring at the burger that was too fire according to him so I take action.

"Ey, first of all I'mma need an explanation cause I don't know what's going on with your ass. You got me all drenched up and for what" I complain trying to wipe the soda off, but who am I kidding.

"Deandra, come on, wait up. Let me talk to you" I try to catch up with her when she starts strolling away in furry.

"Fuck outta here" she exclaims strongly with her accent coming out in full force and everyone gives me a look.

I rub my face aggressively and follow her all the way behind the counter while everyone else follows us with their eyes. "Fuck did I do wrong" I ask in a lower tone when she starts tying her apron and she turns around with vexation written all over her eyes as she stares me down. If looks could kill....

"I hate you" she plainly says tilting her head to a side.

"Aight then" I put I hands up in defeat, "my bad you feel that way, my only question is why" I voice emphasizing the why because she's starting to make me pissed as hell. I know she was with Jake the day he ended things so if something happened, she'll know about it.

She looks me up and down with her eyes lingering a little longer on the orange part on my tank top and she smirks, "wait till my shift ends."

"Aight, aight" I find myself agreeing quickly, "okay I will. When does your shift end" I ask her and she scoffs.

"That will be in 3 hours, but knowing your ass you'll probably leave and say aight and hang up when I call you" she says with so much attitude that I ball up my hands, "but all you gotta know for now is that it's about Jake, nothing else."

"Did something happen to him? What's going on" I ask starting to feel concerned, but that doesn't seem to faze her.

"And just so you know, you can't leave. I want you to sit there and soak that soda in like the piece of shit you are" she rolls her eyes and wear a pair of gloves, "oh and tell your lil friend to stop looking at me, I don't like that" and with that she disappears into a door leaving me there looking stupid and orange.

"Who's that" Quinn asks as soon as I sit back down and I kiss my teeth.

"Deandra, Jake's friend."

"Damn, she bad" he says nodding. So I'm right in front if him drenched in soda and all he says is that? He ain't my homie from today onwards.

"Aight, I'm done eating. Let's go" he says putting some money on the table and I give him a 'seriously?' look.

"Sit down, we gone wait until Deandra's done" I let him know and a smile spreads on his face.

"I can work with that."

"Three hours though" I add and he shrugs leaning against his chair.

"So? I ain't the one smelling like soda" he laughs and I flip him off. I can't believe I'll sit here with my dick wet for three hours straight.

~~
It turns out that Deandra finished earlier than she had anticipated, but that doesn't mean she wasn't taking her time. She came to tell us that she'd go change 15 minutes ago and she's still not out yet.

I look down at myself and groan thinking about what my head must be looking like right now. My waves better not get messed up.

"Okay, so I'm here" Deandra says walking to the table and Quinn and I sit up attentively. "You want me to tell you here or..."

"Do it here cause I need to go change. I can't be in these damn clothes another minute" I'm fast to reply and she rolls her eyes.

"Sound like a you problem, anyways...where do I start" she says tapping her nails on the table in thoughts.

"I ain't the one who's supposed to be telling you this, but I'm concerned about my best friend" she starts and I give her my full attention. "He....he was kicked out a while ago, no not a while ago, I think it's already been four months? It was something with his piece of shit father finding out he was gay and stuff so he had to go live somewhere else...."

'Kicked out'... is the only thing running through my mind as she continues to partly fill me in on everything that's been going on so far. The more I think about it.....the long months, Jacob living alone in this godforsaken neighborhood and unquestionably still managing to love his parents through it all....... That gets my insides fuming and my adrenaline to rush to the point where the only thing I'm seeing is red.

Didn't they know how much they meant to him? What kind of fucked up people would do that.

"A-and he says he's fine but I swear he's not. I'm j-just...."she chokes out and stops for a while to breathe, "I hate your ass but since you're here, do something about it okay?" I catch the last part when she gets a hold of my hand and I grit my teeth trying not to snap in the middle of a fast food restaurant.

"They still there?" I find myself asking and she frowns, "the nigga who threw him out."

"I-I don't know" she stutters pulling her hand away when our eyes meet. Without even saying anything else, I get up and trudge out with the keys in hand breathing fast through both my nose and mouth.

"I'mma kill his ass, watch" I murmur lowly as the others follow me to the car and they quickly get in before I could drive away without them.

The drive to their house wasn't hard to find. I've dropped and picked up the son their ungrateful asses couldn't appreciate here a lot of times. I've taken care of him in that short period of time more than they could ever done and I'll beat that fact into his dad.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I regret not bringing any weapons with me, but I swear to God the next time I step foot back at this place it'll be to throw his ashes at his front door for his soul to rest in piece because I'll definitely be sending people to visit him after I get Jake to forget everything about him.

I drive the car right into the middle of their yard, throw my seatbelt off and rush out.

"Arthur, what are you doing" Deandra yells behind me, but that doesn't stop me. Instead of ringing the doorbell, I aggressively hit the door a couple of times until some lady opens up. I was expecting miss Alyssa. Where is she at and why would she let them throw Jake out like that.

"I'm sorry, but can I help you?" she obviously fakes flinching at the sight in front of her and the left side of my lip goes up in annoyance. This must be Jake's mom and I'm embarrassed to admit that Jake does have some of her features.

"Your husband's in?" I question looking down at her and she clutches her blouse as if I wanna see them saggy tits underneath it.

"Yes."

"Move" I push her out of the way and walk in with my hands tightly fisted.

"Hey, you can't just barge into our house like that.... no don't go in there" she tries to get in the way when I want to walk into what looks like a hallway.

"Meredith, what is the commotion going on there all about. I cannot concentrate on my work, keep it down and come close the door for me, I'm busy" I hear coming from a room and I don't think twice before walking into the hallway and entering the room that looks like an office.

"Hey, who are yo-" and before he could finish that, I get a hold of his checkered shirt and drag him over his desk, "s-stop it this insta-nt" he yells when I start throwing punch after punch aiming for his face and burry my knee a couple of times in his stomach.

I press the side of his head against the floor when he wants to free himself from my strong grip on his head, "I'm glad he didn't turn out like you, I'm fucking glad" I grit putting more pressure on him.

"L-let him gooo" his