25. feels like falling

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Soooo, shit goes down in this chapter. It's around 5500+ words. I could write so much more but I decided to save it for the next chapter. 

There are only 10 chapters left. Buckle up, it's finna be a wild ride.

"When I'm with you does it feel like falling?"

***

"Happy birthday, cookie crumbs." my mother's voice echoed from the door. 

My eyes fluttered open to find my whole family at the edge of my bed. Momma held a plate of freshly cooked pancakes in front of my nose, candles from our nearest convince store numbered "18" sat messily on top. Pop had a card in hand, trying his best not to look like Momma forced him to come and surprise me and Sarai held a purple gift bag with a bright smile on her face.

I smiled, rolling over onto my side so I could face them. I haven't heard the name "cookie crumbs" in years. In middle school, people like Quincy would make fun of my freckles 'cause it was somethin' they've never seen before. When I came home crying, Momma told me that I gotta embrace what makes me different. She said my freckles reminded her of cookie crumbs, her favorite dessert. 

When high school came along the freckles came in handy since according to Reese, they make me more attractive. Girls love them for some reason and Amour really likes them, so that's a plus.

"Are you gonna blow out these candles or what?" Momma asked impatiently. 

I chuckled, closing my eyes and blowing out the flame in front of me. 

"What'd you wish for?" Sarai questioned.

"Love." I winked.

"You better slow it down, you just turned eighteen," Momma told. 

"Who says he can't find love young?" Pop chimes in, sending me a wink. "Don't think I haven't seen you cheesin' extra hard lately, Isaiah," he says, playfully rubbing my head.

"Watch the waves!"

Pop lets out a deep chuckle, shaking his head. "What waves?" he asks. "You better take this card before I keep it. Talkin' bout watch the waves.

The four of us laugh as I take the card from his hands, the front of it reading "Happy Birthday" with a basketball hoop under it. It opens to reveal a hundred dollar bill and a small note.

'I know I don't show it much, but I'm proud of you son. 

You're gonna go far in life kid, even in that photography shit. 

Love, Pop.'

I smiled to myself, feeling a sense of joy knowing that Pop was proud of me. My dad is probably one of the most emotionless human beings I've never met. I've never seen him cry, he laughs sparingly, and he usually only smiles at Sarai and Momma. I'll get a smile here and there if I do well in a game or crack a good joke, but that's the extent of it. 

"My turn!" Sarai squeaked, handing me the gift bag. 

I opened the gift and pulled out another hoodie to add to my collection. This time it was an XO hoodie by the Weeknd, it had "XO" written in blue on top of the heart and "STARBOY" written largely in red on the sleeves. I thanked my mother and Sarai before putting it back in the bag and setting it to the side. 

I moved to where I was now sitting on the edge of the bed. Sarai gave me a hug before rushing into the kitchen, probably trying to get as much bacon as she could before the rest of us join. Pop left with a nod, which left my Momma, who had a sad smile on her face. 

"You good mom?" I ask concerned.

"I'm fine, baby. It's just...this is your last birthday at home for a while. I know you'll be busy with basketball and college next year, so I want a little extra time while you're still here." she says. 

I pat the bed, signaling for her to come and sit next to me. Momma pulls me into a tight hug and I rest my head on top of her curls. 

"You know you can tell me anything right?" she pulls away, still holding onto my hands.

My eyes find hers and I can see myself in them. "Yeah, I know."

"Okay, I just want you to know that I love you, Isaiah," she kisses my forehead before standing up and walking towards the door. "Happy birthday, cookie crumbs."

With that, my mother smiled, looking like she knows something that I don't. She walked out of the room and shut the door, leaving me alone and confused. 

***

Amour's POV

"Alright, JJ you and Drake can go unload my car, I have three boxes of decorations that I need up fast," I order, scribbling down notes on my clipboard.

JJ gives me a salute before rushing out the door towards my car. "Did you have to pair me with him?" Drake groans. 

"You said you wanted to decorate."

"But–"

"Chop chop Honoret, we're on the clock!" I yell while clapping my hands. 

Drake rolls his eyes and slowly makes his way to the front door, sending me a middle finger on his way out. I turn to see the rest of my team looking at me with wide eyes. 

What can I say? I take these things seriously. 

"Mariana and Angel, your job is blowing up balloons. I need at least forty before the party starts. Got it?" I direct my attention to the twins, one had a bright smile on her face while the other looked like he wanted to die. 

"Who put you in charge?" Angel asked harshly. 

I sent him a look. "I did, puta. So do what I say before I corta tu polla." I sneer. 

"Te odio a morir." Angel mumbles before going to the backyard with our sister. 

"Devany you're in charge of keeping Reese and Isaiah distracted until everything is set up. Take them to the mall and keep me updated on what's going on." 

"Got it, I'll text y'all when I'm on my way back here." she smiles before leaving.

"Perfect! Mami, you're still working on the cake right?" I clarify.

She nods, allowing me to cross off the word 'cake' written down on my list. My mother walks into the kitchen, leaving me alone with my dad who had our family cat wrapped in his large arms. 

"Dad, if you're gonna be the security guard you can't have a Kiwi with you the whole time," I tell him. "You're supposed to be intimidating."

"I can be intimidating," he says quietly, petting her ears.

I sigh and take the cat from him. I held her like a baby in my right arm while looking at the clipboard with my left. My dad soon grew a frown on his face. 

"But she's my baby." he pouts. 

"Fine," I huff. "But put some sunglasses on her or something."

Dad happily takes the cat from my arms and runs upstairs to find something for her wear. 

This party planning thing was no joke. I have a million things to do before six o'clock and I'm stressed. I still need to call the DJ and set up the little stage outside so my final present for Isaiah can go as planned. 

It would go like this: Drake goes on stage and says a few words about Isaiah and Reese before handing the mic to me, then I would say some things about Reese and finally, tell Isaiah that I love him. 

Yes, I just said that. I am in love with Isaiah King. Hopefully, the feeling's mutual because I would throw a fit if I did all of this for nothing. 

But that's not the point. After I confess my love I'm going to sing him this song that I wrote for him. It's been in the works for a couple of months now and I think it's one of my best songs to date. I have the music already set up and everything. 

Honestly, I think I–

"Amour!"

Drake's yelling pulls me out of my thoughts. I follow the sound of his voice into my backyard to find him and JJ arguing about streamers. Idiots. 

"You have to wrap them together and then put them on the fence!" Drake argued as he threw a yellow streamer into the ground. 

"No, you have to do it individually and make one higher than the other!" JJ barked. 

"That's ugly!"

"You're ugly!" 

"Okay!" I yelled, stepping between them. "Stop! JJ, it'll look better if we wrap them together before we hang them on the fence." 

"Ha!" Drake mocked. 

JJ sent Drake a glare before roughly handing over the purple streamer to Drake and stomping away. "Where are you going?" I call after him. 

"To decorate somewhere else!" he shot back. 

Drake snickered and went to wrap the purple and yellow streamers together. A sigh left my mouth as I looked around the half-decorated backyard. JJ went to set up the tables and chairs next to the food table. My mom was setting up the snacks, accompanied by my dad who was attempting to sneak a couple of chips. 

The twins were filling the balloons with helium next to my parents. Well, one twin was working while the other was inhaling the gas straight from the machine, laughing every time his voice got higher pitched. 

"Look, Mari, I sound like Amour!" Angel cackled, his voice sounding like a mouse. 

Mariana looked unamused as she tied the bottom of another balloon. "Can you be useful just this once?" she sassed.

Angel took a deep inhale of helium. "Can you be useful just this once?" he mocked, cracking up at himself.

Before I had the chance to knock Angel upside his head Mariana stepped in and did it for me. She slapped the top of his head causing him to grab onto her curly hair, making her yell and hit him harder. 

8th graders. 

Mom went to break up the fight, stepping between them and grabbing onto their ears before shouting their full names. The three of us know that when mom yells our middle name there's a problem. 

 I sighed, shaking my head at the chaos surrounding me. I grab my phone to check the time, the screen lighting up with two unread messages. 

1/1 From Devany: Isaiah keeps asking about you I think he's catching on

1/1 From Saiah: I'm at the mall do you want anything??

I quickly text the two of them back, telling Dev to keep them distracted for as long as possible and telling Isaiah that I'm good. As I go to turn off my phone a random number pops up on the screen. I groan, knowing it's probably the guy Drake hired as a DJ letting me know he's gonna be late. 

"Amour's Party Planning Services how may I help you? " I say cheerfully into the phone.

"Hey, babe." 

My eyes go wide when I recognize the voice on the other line. I furrow my eyebrows, giving the number a look before speaking. "How the fuck did you call my number?" I ask harshly. "I blocked you a week ago."

"It's not hard to get a new number Amour," Issac says, his voice sounding sinister. 

"Great! I'll block this one too!" I say cheerfully.

"Amour please, I just want to talk." he sighed.

I can feel my eyes rolling into the back of my head. "I'm not about to stand here and entertain your stupid stalker shit, Issac. Goodbye."

"But baby–"

"Good. Bye." I fumed, ending the call. 

I rub the sides of my temples, trying not to think about why Issac or why he keeps trying to talk to me. I take another look around the backyard, the twins are still fighting, this time Mom is involved, Drake and JJ are arguing again, and dad is in the corner putting our cat in a bowtie. 

It's gonna be a long night.

***

Isaiah's POV

I am so confused. 

Devany offered to take Reese and me to the mall for our birthday which is nice right? 

Nope. 

It wasn't nice when she wouldn't let us leave. Every time Reese and I told her we were ready to go she would go into another store and look around just to buy nothing! Not only that but every time I asked her about Amour she changed the subject. The fact that Amour hasn't been answering my messages isn't helping either.

The only good thing about his mall trip is that I got this expensive ass cologne that smells bomb as hell. Reese ended up getting new makeup and Devany, well I honestly don't know what she got. I feel like she has to be on something. 

"Dev you're gonna make a right over here." Reese directed, pointing towards her street. 

"Actually I gotta make one more stop if y'all don't mind," Devany told, a slight smile on her face.

Reese turned from the front seat to give me a look. "What the fuck is going on?" she mouthed so Devany couldn't hear. 

I shrugged, letting her know that I'm as clueless as she is. I looked out the window to see that Dev was driving in a familiar route towards Amour's house. 

"Yo Devany why we driving to Amour's house?" I question.

"Aren't you going over there later?" she asks.

My forehead creased. "Yeah, but I was gonna go home and–"

"Don't worry about it!" Dev chirps, cutting me off. 

I put my hands up in surrender, leaning back into my seat while Devany drives us to Amour's house. The sun was starting to set due to the weird December weather, it would get dark earlier but still, be warm out. Amour's house seemed unusually dark as we pulled into the driveway. It was like no one was home, but the fairy lights in his backyard were shining brightly as the sun dimmed. 

The three of us got out of Devany's car and walked up to the door, which was left wide open. 

"Are you sure we can just walk in?" Reese asks confused. 

"Just trust me," Devany replies. 

The chaos of Amour's house is at a halt when we step in. All the lights are turned off, the twins aren't chasing each other, Amour's mom isn't yelling at them to stop, and Amour isn't here tripping over something like always. 

Devany leads us into the kitchen and towards the door to the backyard. Slight whispers are heard from the other side of the door which makes me look to Reese. I have a feeling I know what's going on but as always, Reese is standing here clueless. 

Devany opens the door to reveal a backyard full of people. The lights in the house turn on and confetti is thrown everywhere. 

"Suprise!" everyone yells in unison. 

Amour and Drake are in the front of the crowd holding a large cake with "Happy Birthday Isaiah and Shareese!" written in fancy letters. Behind them, I spot my basketball team, some of the cheerleaders, Reese's friends, Amour's family, and some other kids from our school. 

The hugest smiled was pasted on my face as I looked around to find purple and yellow decorations covering Amour's backyard. Reese stood beside me with tears in her eyes, she brought her hands up to her mouth, unknowingly showing off her new birthday nails. 

"Make a wish!" Amour smiles, holding the cake up to us. 

Reese and I close our eyes and blow out the candles together, gaining us a cheer from the rest of the crowd. Once Drake and Amour hand off the cake to Devany, Reese goes to squeeze the life out of Drake. 

Amour walks up to me sheepishly, a small smile on his face. "Happy birthday," he says quietly, locking his eyes to mine. "I know you don't really have big things like this but I wanted to throw you a party for your eighteenth because it's a special day and you deserve it since you work really hard and I think you need a break from all the basketball stuff and–"

"You're rambling," I say softly. "Thank you, Amour. I love it." 

"Are you sure? Because I know the decorations could've been better but you have no idea what kinda team I had to work with to get everything set up," Amour continued, gesturing towards everyone. "I mean I had people arguing over streamers! Streamers for God's sake! I don't understand how–"

I playfully roll my eyes and put my fingers on his chin so he could look at me. "The fact that you went out of your way to do this for me is good enough," I smile, moving his hair away from his eye. "As long as I'm here with you the streamers don't really matter." 

"Really?" 

"Really," I chuckle. "Now are you gonna stop talking so I can kiss you?"

"But there's a crowd, and we aren't under Mrs. Jackson's science table or inside a bathroom stall," Amour mentioned. 

"Amour. Kiss me." 

With that, he leaned in to connect our lips in a passionate kiss. Amour's hands trailed up to cradle my face while I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him closer. My heart was practically filled with bliss knowing that here, there was nothing to stop me from being close to Amour. 

There was just something about the sensation of his soft lips against mine, the feeling of his hands holding onto my face gently, there was just something about him. Our heads tilted to the side for better access as I started to trail my hands down his back. I chuckled when he moved his hand to stop mine from squeezing his butt. 

He pulled away first with hooded eyes filled with something more than just lust. 

"Slow your roll there tiger, we're still in public," he says causing the both of us to laugh quietly.

I couldn't help but admire the boy in front of me. His cheeks had a tone of red peeking through his golden skin as he looked at me through downward turned lashes with his big brown eyes. His pink lips turned upward when he looked at me. 

"Do I have cake on my face? You're staring hella hard," Amour laughs.

"Nah," I say, taking his hands into mine. "It's just that I love you."

His eyes go wide. "You what now?" he asks surprised.

"I love you, Amour," I repeat. "Like, a lot."

"Dammit." 

"Huh?" I ask confused.

"Nothing! Nothing. Just a little change in plans, that's all," he mutters quickly. "God, what I'm trying to say is...I love you too, Isaiah, like a lot."

I lean in to give Amour another kiss, feeling like we were the only two in the room.

Sadly, we weren't.

"Yo where the party at?" A familiar, annoying voice shouts from behind us. 

Amour and I look to find Kingston strutting through the screen door with a blunt in his mouth. His pants sagged, even though he wore a black belt, showing off his Supreme underwear, and his hair was freshly braided and pulled into a ponytail. 

"Aw look at

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