Grim

6

"Hey," Sapphire greeted as she entered our room.

I looked up from the backpack and greeted, "Hey." I zipped it up and placed it back in the closet. I had been counting the amount of ammo I had in there to ensure that Sapphire and I would be set for the road.

"We're still set to leave tomorrow, right?" she made certain, and I nodded. "And you're not gonna sneak out in the morning without me, right?"

I chuckled, "Why would I do that?"

"Cause I know you wanna keep me safe," she answered.

I nodded, "I do, but you're also the only one I trust, and I need help."

She smiled, "Okay."

Remembering our conversation last night, I brought up, "You said you wanted to speak with me about something."

I figured we'd be talking about something serious, as she wanted to wait until we had both rested. Now that it was time to have the talk, I felt a bit nervous.

"Oh, yeah," she shyly replied before taking a seat on the bed, so I sat beside her and gave a nod, letting her know that I was ready whenever she was. "There's really no easy way of asking this, so I guess I just have to be blunt. I just wanna know if we're still together-together. I know we didn't break up but we haven't seen each other in a year. We kissed the other night but I don't know our relationship status or if you've been with someone else..."

The thought of being with somebody else never even crossed my mind. I was too busy thinking about my missing brother and if I'd ever get to create a future with Sapphire. Those two things kept me up the most, which was probably why bumping into her helped to ease my nerves. I knew that her joining me on this mission would be therapeutic for me.

I truthfully answered, "I haven't been with anyone else, and I was hoping we could pick up where we left off. If you don't want to-"

"No, I do," she confirmed. "Just wanted to make sure you did as well."

"I do," I confirmed before placing a kiss on her forehead. A thought from last night then crossed my mind, and I felt myself get nervous once again. I wasn't sure if I could handle the answer. "Have you...been...with anyone else?"

"No," she answered, and I could tell from her posture and eye contact that she was being honest.

"Is there anything else?" I asked. I figured our conversation was supposed to be longer.

She shook her head before chuckling, "I anticipated a much longer and heartbreaking conversation."

I joked, "Maybe next time."

"Hopefully never," she chuckled, making me smile.

"Word," I agreed. "You really thought I would've told you that I love you or wanted kids with you if we weren't together?"

She chuckled while shrugging, "I don't know. I wanted to make sure. People be misleading these days."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," I promised, and she shyly looked away while blushing.

"Oh!" she randomly said as if remembering something. "Can you reconcile with Rose before we leave?"

I frowned, "She's still upset?"

After the show she had put on, I would've thought we were at least even by now!

"Pissed." Sapphire corrected. "The whole pregnancy situation was just really hard on her, and she really wanted Marco around. I know you feel bad that he wasn't able to be there, but I think she needs to hear you say it," Sapphire informed me. "She might tell you to fuck off when you show up at her door, but if you have a genuine conversation with her. I'm sure she'll understand!"

If what Rose did and said was because she felt that I turned my back on Marco, I was willing to talk with her. What I wasn't willing to do, however, was bother someone who clearly wasn't fucking with me and would rather be spiteful towards me. I didn't know which case I was dealing with.

I sighed, not really wanting to figure out which case fit. I would've much rather let Rose come to her senses alone, but Sapphire gave me puppy eyes, so I agreed, "Fine."

"Yay!" she smiled, making me crack a faint smile.

"Which room?" I asked since I didn't know which room Rose or Sapphire's mother chose.

"The first," Sapphire answered, and I nodded before getting up and making my way to Rose's room. I knocked on the door, and Rose invited me in.

"Fuck off," Rose said once my head popped through the door, and I nearly burst out laughing because of how well Sapphire knew Rose. Rose literally had the reaction Sapphire said she'd have.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as I fully entered her room. I left the door open so that I could escape quickly in case she wanted to stone me to death.

"Don't care," she rolled her eyes.

I sighed, "I'm sorry you had to go through your pregnancy without Marco. I'm sure he would've loved to be there. You both made a beautiful son."

"Yeah, well, Pharaoh may never get to meet him because you didn't even make sure he was safe!" Rose began to cry.

"I wasn't given the time to. I had gotten ambushed at home. After the shootout, I sent a text to everyone that let them know to retreat to their safe house; I just don't know who made it. I don't know where any one's safe house is, nor do I have an alarm for theirs. The only person that I would know that information for is Ace, and he never made it to his," I informed, and she connected eyes with me.

She gasped, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

"It's fine. I'm just hoping he's not dead," I sighed. "By the way, I do know that Marco was loyal to me. He and Ace were the only two that I could swear on. I wouldn't have let him in and out of my crib so many times if I didn't trust him."

She sniffled while nodding. She then asked, "How will you get in contact with everyone when this is over?"

"There's a procedure I established. They'll know," I promised, and she nodded.

"Okay," she replied quietly. "I'm sorry for being a bitch to you, and I do trust you around Sapphire. I know you care about her a lot and dropped a lot for her."

"It's aight," I nodded. "I know you said all of those stuff because you were hurting."

"Still doesn't make what I said right. I was being a hypocrite," she admitted. "Take good care of her, okay?" Rose made me promise, and I nodded once again. "You should know that her losing the baby really fucked her up a bit, even though she won't admit it. No one was expecting her to lose it. We all felt for her, but she obviously feels it more."

I frowned, "Wait, what do you mean?"

"You know, like she randomly cries every now and—"

I cut her off and asked, "No, I meant when you said she lost the baby."

Rose's eyes widened as she asked, "She didn't tell you she was pregnant?!"

"She did, but she told me that she had an abortion..."

"She told me that she lost it..."

Rose and I stared off into the distance for a while before yelling, "Sapphire!"

A/N: I wonder what happened to Sapphire's and Azias' child 🤔🤭 Find out next week, along with another confession 👀 2 chapters next week; the second will be long again (so you're really getting 3) 🎀✨