"What in your twisted mind thought it was a good idea to invite him to even stand in the same house as me?"

     "Phoebe-"

    "No! Do not," I say, gathering mine and Zameer's belongings.

    "Phoebe, what's going on?" Zameer asks softly.

     "Yeah kitty, why are you so upset?" The man taunts. Getting a kick out of this.

     Disgusting.

     "Don't call me that, you freak." I spit at him.

     Zameer seems to connect the dots because within a second he's launching himself towards Darren, my stepfather.

     I quickly grab his arm to hold him back.

     "Babe, it's not worth it. You're just giving in to what he wants." I say, trying to calm him down. He does look mighty fine right now though.

     Not the time.

     He sighs before backing down, grabbing my hand softly, and walking towards the door.

     "Phoebe Balewa! Stop, just let me expla-" Tanya starts, making me snap. 

     I slap her.

     Hard.

     "Don't ever speak to me again. You're sick." I yell, spraying hand sanitizer on my hands.

     She looks at me in shock before launching herself at me, making Zameer push her to the ground.

     "Hey! Watch yourself boy." Darren says, glaring at Zameer.

     "Lower your tone when you talk to me." Zameer states calmly, smirking as he watches Darren get riled up.

     "Tsk Tsk Tsk. Let's not forget you have my seconds, boy. How's my daughter doing, by the way? Tell her daddy says hi." Darren smirks at me before winking at Zameer.

     And he loses it.

     Before I can stop him, Zameer's body goes flying towards Darren's, tackling him to the ground.

     Tanya looks at them in fear.

    "What are you doing just standing around! Stop him! He's acting like an animal." She cries out, rushing over to help her boy-toy.

     I quickly grab her arm and pull her back.

     "He deserves this. You do too, but you're lucky I'm not a fighter." I smirk at her, watching Zameer layer punches across Darren's dirty face.

     She glares at me before storming out of the house.

     "I hate you, Phoebe. I should've killed you when I had the chance." She says through gritted teeth slamming the door behind her.

     Ouch.

     Zameer continues to punch Darren's face, and I suddenly heard a crack. Yikes.

     I finally decided that it was enough and walked over to pull Zameer off of him.

     "Can we leave now? Please?" I practically beg, gently trapping Zameer's arm between my hands.

     Zameer stops his punches and calmly stands up. He links our hands together before dragging me out of the house.

     We get to his car and he opens my door, buckles my seatbelt, and practically slams the door.

     I flinch a little, not used to his aggressiveness.

     The door to the driver's side swings open and he sits down, closing his eyes.

     It was completely silent.

     He takes a few deep breaths before opening his eyes again and looking over at me. I give him a small smile in which he tries to reciprocate, but it looks painful.

     "Are you okay?" He asks me in his usual soft tone.

     "Yeah, I just- Yeah. I'm fine. I just can't believe I actually thought she would change." I chuckle bitterly, looking down at my lap and fiddling with my clothes. "I'm a bit hurt, but I'll be fine. Are you okay?"

      "What? Baby, don't worry about me. This is about you." He reassures, moving his hand so it rests on my thigh. 

     I look up at him in adoration, making him wink at me. I giggle and look down at my lap to notice his knuckles were bleeding.

     "Zameer! Your hands! Does it hurt?" I exclaim.

     He chuckles before flexing his other arm at me.

   "I'm a big boy. I can take it." I roll my eyes and he just cackles at me.

     "I'll take care of it when we get to my apartment."

     "Baby-"

     "No buts mister." He sighs before starting the car, with a pink hue blossoming onto his cheeks, making me smirk.

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     "That was pretty hot. You should fight more often." I tease, wrapping his arms in bandages. He scoffs at me before playfully rolling his eyes. "Kidding! Take a joke old man."

     "Old man? I am not an old man." He exclaims scrunching his nose up.

     "You are."

     "Not. I am not."

     We were currently in the bathroom in my apartment. I was sitting on the counter because Zameer is too tall and my legs were hurting.

     "Mommy! Daddy!" A little voice from behind the door squeals. The doorknob twists multiple times before the door actually opens.

     Echo's little body rushes into the room, throwing herself at my legs.

     "I missed you guys so so much! I made a new friend! H-his name is Mr. Pee!"

     "Woah, there. Slow down, baby girl. We missed you too. Now tell us about your new friend." Zameer says, raising one of his eyebrows while taking me off the counter with her hands on my waist.

     "He's a bunny! He's so so cute. I want a bunny." She says, making grabby hands towards me. 

     I pick up my little baby and rest her on my hip. She giggles at me and wraps her arms around my neck.

     "I missed my mommy." She mumbles, nuzzling her face into my shoulder.

     "Awe, baby. I missed you too." I say, kissing her soft cheek. She smiles, her dimples showing themselves.

      She was just too cute for her own good.

     I walk out of the bathroom with Zameer not far behind.

     "You're so pwetty, momma" Echo coos, tracing my facial features with her tiny hands.

     "Aww! Thank you, baby. Must be where you get it from." I say, winking at her. She giggles at me and places an opened mouth kiss on my cheek.

     Zameer chuckles before walking over to us and kissing both of our cheeks.

     "I'm gonna run to the store really quickly. I'll be back right after. Do you guys need anything?"

     "No, I don't need any-"

     "Can I have some chocolate milk, pease?" Echo asks sweetly, looking up at Zameer with her doe eyes.

     "Of course, baby." He coos, kissing her forehead.

     He gives me a peck on my lips before walking towards my front door.

    "Call me if you need anything, love." He calls out, grabbing his car keys off the kitchen counter.

     "I will!"

     "Mommy..." Echo says as Zameer shuts the front door.

     "Hm?"

     "Can I get strawberry milk too?"

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Hi everyone! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you guys so much for 170k on here! I'm so grateful for you guys. As you guys may have suspected, Phoebe will be ending soon :( There are only a few more chapters left. I don't think I'm gonna do a sequel or anything because I was never really planning on it. However, I am currently working on a new short story! It's a fantasy one and I hope some of you guys will check it out! I won't be publishing it until Phoebe is finished but I do have the cover ready. Anyways, please don't forget to vote and comment. (I love reading your guys' comments.) I love you all! <3

P.S  No outfits pictures, they are wearing what they wore in the last chapter.

The cover for my new story! Photography creds to go the rightful owner, M.Kahlia.Photography. I found the image on Pinterest. <3