Thanksgiving break started in three days, and it had been two weeks since Armani and Nai confessed their feelings for one another. She was already sad to leave him, even if only four days after seeing him for fourteen days straight.

Today was their friendsgiving, and luckily, Samara's mom let them use her basement for the night, since nobody else had a place around campus. Everyone cooked something, and was to bring it to the house and they's just enjoy each other's company for the night.

Nayeli made mac and cheese, which she vividly remembered her mom making almost every night when she was pregnant with the twins. She made it so often, Nayeli learned by just watching her, and she made it just as good, according to everyone at home.

Samara made gumbo and white rice, and Aubrielle baked sweet potato pie and made cheesecake for her boyfriend, who hated sweet potato anything.

They were waiting on the boys to arrive, and nobody knew what they made, but everyone was excited, especially because they knew how well Armani could cook.

"Oop, they outside," Samara spoke, seeing two cars pull in back to back. Nayeli hopped up out her seat to go to the door with her friend so she could be nosy and see what everyone brought, and to see her boo, of course.

"Welcome welcome! Head right down them steps and to your left, you'll see everything, set up," she pointed as Armani, Duck, a girl they didn't know, and Tripp came in. Shortly after, a boy they didn't regocnize strolled through as well, causing Nai and Bri to exchange looks.

They joined everyone in the basement, and everyone began greeting one another.

"Wassup, pretty girl," Armani spoke, hugging Nayeli close to him.

"Hi Mani," she cheesed, kissing him twice. One thing he noticed as time went on was that she was getting pretty bold when it came to showing him affection without him asking for it, and he loved it. "Whatchu make? It smells so good," she complimented.

"Oh, thank you, hermosa. It's Dominican food, I'll tell you when we sit down to eat," he spoke, bending to kiss her again, making her hear flutter.

Everyone sat down at the long table, and Duck cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention.

"I wanna introduce ya'll to someone," he said gesturing to the girl next to him. "This my girl, November, bae, this is everyone," he gestured his hand again at everyone, making them shake their heads and introduce themselves.

"Hi, nice to meet ya'll, you can call me Noona, November long as hell," she spoke in a clear tone. Her voice was a little deeper than Nayeli's and it fit her face perfectly. She and Duck were really cute together, she was wondering why he didn't bring her around before.

"Well since we introducin', y'all I'd like to formally introduce you to my man, Demetrius," she squeezed his face. "Meechie, this is everyone, y'all heard their names,", let's pray so we can eat please," she rushed.

Armani volunteered to pray, and everyone revealed the food they made so plates could be made.

"Duck...you made this chicken?" Bri asked, unwrapping the plate of perfectly fried chicken, and honestly everyone har the exact same question.

"Hell no he ain't," his girlfriend snickered. "Don't let him lie to you,"

"Noona why you snitching dawg?" he mushed her head. "Watch when we get home," he nodded, making her wave him off.

Tripp had called his mom for step by step instructions on how to make collard greens because he was convinced hers were a the best he'd ever tasted. Demetrius brought ribs, specially made by his grandfather, who lived in the area as well.

"Okay tell me what it is," Nai looked excitedly at the food Armani made.

"Okay," he chuckled. "That one is La Bandera, it's like stew I guess. That's the best way to describe it. I didn't make any rice for it because I figured someone else was making rice. But there's chicken in this one, you can use whatever you want though,  but chicken is how me and my mom usually make it. And that one is tostones, it's basically fried plantains" he began. Nayeli only looked at him while he spoke and she could see clearly the sparkle in his eye when he was talking about how he made it and how it's supposed to taste.

She could see the passion in his face, and in how excited he got when he talked about food. She loved it, she could see it made him truly happy.

"It looks so good, I can't wait to try it," she smiled, adding everything to her plate.

"I hope you like it," he nodded. "I made it extra special just for you," he winked at her, making her giggle at him. He was a huge flirt when it came to her, and liked to do so whenever he had the chance, getting her all flustered and blushing.

He ate and watched her eat, waiting for her to get to his food. One of the many joys he got from cooking was seeing people enjoying what he made with his own two hands. He believed the greatest joy after love was food.

"Dawg, this is so good, what the hell you put in it? Crack?" Samara asked him, looking up from her plate. He couldn't help but to bust out laughing at his friend, as did everybody else.

"You're stupid," he said once the laughter died down. "But thank you, Lea. No there's no crack in it," he shook his head. Everyone else went around throwing compliments at each other, because all the food was just that good, it was like a regular thanksgiving.

"Armani..." Nayeli spoke, as she had finally gotten around to tasting his food. "You lying I think it is crack in here," she muttered, eating some more of it. "This is so good, how the hell—"

"Thank you mamas. I'm glad you like it," he smirked. "The mac and cheese you made is really good too, I keep getting more," he chuckled.

"Oh thank you! My mama basically taught me when I was like ten," she laughed at the memories.

"Remind me to thank her when I meet her," he said smoothly. Nayeli smiled at his words, imagining how well he'd get along with her mom and dad, she was sure they'd love him when they got the chance to meet.

Once the eating was all done, the friends sat around the basement watching movies together, eating Bri's dessert and drinking some mixed drink Samara swindled her older brother into making for them. Now on their third movie, Nayeli was honestly exhausted, she had class that morning and then rushed to make the food, and help Samara set up, and now she wanted to sleep.

"Mamí you sleeping?" Armani asked. His arm was around her and she was laying peacefully on his chest, eyes barely open, but they looked closed to him. "You are," he chuckled to himself.

"I'm not," she mumbled, snuggling closer to him. She had yet to stay the night at his dorm, and he didn't stay at hers either, but when he came over some nights she'd nap on him just like this, so if she was sleeping, he wouldn't be surprised.

"You are," he said, rubbing his hand across her back.

"I'm nottt," she whined. She began to sit up a little bit to look around, noticing that everyone else was sleeping too. College and sports had clearly been wailing on them all, relentlessly.

"See? It's okay, go to sleep hermosa," he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "We can go back to my dorm and go to sleep if you want to," he suggested, keeping that one hand on her back, making her heart thump loudly in her chest.

"Bitch you better say yes," she heard Samara mutter from next to her. Her eyes shifted to her friend, who was being held hostage by a sleeping Meechie.

"U-uh yeah—yeah sure," she nodded, hands fidgeting with each other. His face turned upward into a smirk and he nodded.

Everyone got woken up at the end of the movie, and they all started to say goodbye, since thanksgiving break started in a few days. Aub and Tripp we're flying home tomorrow, Samara was already home so she and Meechie were staying here for the night.

Duck lived in Detroit, and he'd be flying back the day after tomorrow so he was spending the night with Noona, who was from Philly.

Both Nayeli and Armani's flights were the last day before break started, and Armani was trying to figure out how he was gonna get to spend the rest of the time with his girlfriend before they had to leave each other for the holiday.

On the ride back, she couldn't shake the nerves she was feeling. She was nervous simply because this was her first time spending the night with her first boyfriend. They made it to his dorm room in about 35 minutes and he led her to his room.

"It's so cozy in here, Mani," she spoke. She'd of course been to his room before and she explained it to be a hot mess, like Dallas and Kareem's room because she visited them on many occasions, and was always helping them clean because they were trifling.

"Thank you, baby," he said. "Duck is a damn germaphobe, so we gotta keep this bitch spotless or he'll have a fit," he said. "You wanna shower?"

"Oh...I didn't bring anything, I didn't think I'd be here tonight," she replied. She was so wrapped up in her nerves, she didn't even think about all that.

"It's cool, mamas. I got some basketball shorts and a shirt you can wear," he assured her, walking over to his drawer and digging through his clean clothes until her got her what she needed. "Here, baby, go head and shower, there should be an extra towel in there for you,"

"Okay, thank you," she smiled, taking the clothes and going towards his bathroom. It was just as clean in here. She took a nice hot shower, washing the day off and trying her best to relax. It was just Armani, right?

Once she was done, she dried off and slipped into the clothes he left for her, tying the shorts as tight as she could possibly tie them and even then, she was still swimming in his clothes. She took a picture in the boys mirror and sent it in the groupchat with she, Samara and Bri.

: im official 😝

lea🌸: my bitch is a GIRLFRIEND

bri bri 🦄: oh yes ma'am!

She giggled at her friends messages before putting her phone down, rinsing her mouth out with the listerene he had in here, and finally exiting the bathroom.

"You look so damn cute," he smiled once he laid eyes on her, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Thank you, these are really comfortable," she smiled shyly, folding her clothes up and laying them in the corner.

"I'm glad. Go head and get comfortable, here's the remote, I'll be back," he stood up, kissing her forehead before heading towards the bathroom. She slipped under his covers, sighing at the comfortable feeling. She didn't know how she and her 6'4, 190 pound boyfriend were going to fit in this twin xl bed, though.

She was half asleep when he came back out, shorts on. She knew he slept without a shirt on but it was still a sight to see. Basketball had done his body very well.

"This lil ass bed," he commented as he got in and had to lay up next to her, making her laugh. He was laid on his back and she was on her side, under his arm, head resting on his chest.

"Let's watch a movie," she yawned, as he made her even more tired, scratching his hand in her hair.

"You want me to put a movie on so you can go to sleep, Nayeli?" he asked, looking over at her. "Look at you, you already gone," he laughed.

"Armani I'm not sleep!" she whined, trying not to laugh herself. "I wanna stay up with you,"

"Aw mamas," he pouted his lip out. "Okay I'll put a movie on," he nodded, finding it hard to tell her no, even though he knew she'd be asleep with in the hour. He knew she was very spoiled, she didn't even have to tell him, he could tell, but she wasn't mean or rude about it and he loved that.

He put on ratatoullie, since they both loved animated movies, and they sat in silence, watching. Well she was watching. He was watching her.

Everything about her was beautiful, he couldn't find a single flaw in her perfect mahogany brown skin. The way it shone in any light that was on her was a sight to behold. He loved her eyes too, they were wide and she tended to have a curious look, like she was always trying to figure out the world around her. Except when she was dancing. When she danced, he could see the fire burning behind her big brown eyes. She had a different type of confidence when she was dancing and loved to see her that way.

In the short three months that they'd known each other, the relationship they built was one he really needed. Their friendship was strong, and he was glad they had that bond before getting into a romantic relationship, it just made them closer.

"What?" she asked, snapping him out of his trance. She was looking right back at him, eyes low.

"You're beautiful," he spoke, watching as a wide smile stretched across her face. "Besos," he requested. She learned that word quickly, seeing as he said it to her almost every day. She leaned up and kissed his lips.

"I love when you speak Spanish," she sighed dreamily.

"Y me encanta cuando me miras así," (and I love it when you look at me like that), he responded, leaning down to kiss her again.

Nayeli completely forgot what she was even nervous about, now.

our babies 🥺

lol hi guys! i hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and this little peek at their relationship ❤️

thanksgiving break is next! poor nai is sad to be leaving him already. she like him like him 🥰

leave me some general thoughts as usuallllll!

till next time 🖤