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| Shuri |

My face fell hearing my name come from her mouth.

Her voice was the last thing that I wanted to hear right now.

"How did you even get in here?" I groaned, letting my face fall into my hands.

"The same way I always do. Through the front entrance." She responded in an "obviously" tone.

"What do you want Nadia?"

Somehow, even after several attempts of fighting her off, she still found a way to come back around.

Her goal was always the same, to try and seduce me because to her, falling into her trap meant that I still loved her.

It took that one night for me to realize that I didn't, because I loved Hazel.

That night that she tried all I could think about was Hazel and how much it would hurt her if I allowed Nadia to tempt me.

I couldn't do that to her.

I missed her so much.

My face lit up when I saw that she was trying to contact me through her kimoyo beads, but of course it was too good to be true.

"The same thing that I want everytime I come here." She smirked as she walked closer to me.

"Are you not tired of doing this? You're starting to look desperate."

"Are you not tired of acting like you don't want me?"

"It's not an act. I promise."

She chuckled, hearing the words come from my mouth. Like I had just told her a joke or something.

"I don't get it." She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What's not to get?"

"How are you so loyal to someone you're not with? She's not even here anymore." She stared at me as if she were genuinely confused by my actions.

"Loyalty isn't that hard for some of us, Nadia."

Another reason I had to keep myself from falling into her trap. After all that she had put me through, I couldn't just let her come back that easy.

She didn't deserve the satisfaction.

"You really love her, huh?" She continued staring at me like she was trying to figure me out. "I think you might actually love her more than you loved me."

"That's not even up for debate." I let out a laugh, making her roll her eyes.

After sitting and thinking about it, I was finally able to distinguish the relationship that I had with Nadia and the one that I had with Hazel.

Nadia represented a younger version of myself. Naive and foolish. I was infatuated with her, my love for her was just puppy love.

It was different with Hazel, she represented a more mature me. Even with knowing her flaws and seeing the different sides of her, I still loved her. I still wanted to show her that she deserves to be love, whether we were together or not.

My relationship with Nadia could never compare to Hazels'.

We deserved better.

"Okay. That's enough."

"Yeah, well it's too late." I responded, focusing my attention back to what I was doing. "You ruined that for us, remember?"

"Do you really believe that?"

"Do you see her here?" I asked, gesturing to the empty space around us.

"Shuri, even I could see how much she loved you. That doesn't just disappear overnight."

"And exactly why would I take advise from you? The person who contributed to ruining my relationship?" I asked, now rolling my eyes at her.

"As much as it hurts.. I think I've realized I'll never actually have you the way that I once did." She looked down, playing with her fingers. "Your heart belongs to someone else now. I missed out, but that doesn't mean you have to."

"Hm." I hummed, trying to figure out what her hidden agenda with this conversation was.

"And I'm sorry... for trying to ruin that." She finished, looking back up at me.

Maybe she's right...

I have to get Hazel back.

| Hazel |

"Hazel you know you don't have to do this if you're not ready." Riri's comforting voice made me look up from the box that I was staring at.

"I'm ready." I whispered, looking up at her.

I was trying to convince both of us of that statement.

I wasn't ready. Not even a little bit, but it's what I needed to do.

Weeks had passed since that drunken night the thought of Nadia with Shuri played in my mind every moment since.

Somehow, I had convinced myself that this was the best option for me.

Letting go.

A part of that meant packing up everything that reminded me of her and throwing it all into a box.

It was crazy to me that our love could fit into a box that would just be thrown in the back of my closet. I was already praying hard that I would forget about it.

I let out a sigh, looking down at the beads on my wrist. The final thing that I had to stuff into the box, yet the hardest to let go of.

"Hazel..." Riri could tell that I was hesitating and the chances of me actually going through with this plan was getting lower.

"I'm ready." My words came out a little more aggressive than the first time.

I have to do this. I have to move on. She's moved on... with Nadia.

I slowly removed the beads from my wrist, placing them on top of everything else that was stuffed in the box.

I was trying my best to hold back the tears that we're trying to escape my eyes.

The same tears that appeared every time there was a trigger, and there were many triggers.

I can do this.

Riri continued to stare at me sympathetically as I placed the lid on the box, immediately picking it up and walking it to the back of my closet.

I couldn't bring myself to let go of it after placing it down on the floor. It was almost like letting go of it sealed our fate.

It was the closure that I didn't want. It was the reality that I had to face.

That it was truly the end for us, though that point was clearly made the moment that I left Wakanda.

It felt too real now.

A tear rolled down my cheek as I finally removed my hands from the box.

I just wish someone would have prepared me for this.

I wish someone would have told me that falling in love is the worst thing you could do.

"Hey.." I had forgotten that Riri was still around, I was now sitting in the closet, in front of this box as several more tears fell down my face. "It's okay.." She reassured me, sitting down beside me and wrapping her arms around me.

It didn't feel okay. It hasn't felt okay since that day, but it had to be.

It had to be okay.

I had to move into acceptance...

• • •

I just realized how sad these last few chapters have been 💀 but I really wanted to try to capture the emotions that come with heartbreak & break ups. My goal is for the next chapter to be happier 🙂 Thanks for readinggggg! ♥️

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