Homegrown: A Takeoff love story

Chapter 31- The Fall

Deja laid next to her friend, helplessly watching her weep, wail, and whimper until her body gave in to exhaustion. She softly rubbed Asia's head while she slept. The girls were startled by the frantic ringing of the doorbell at 3am, followed by a bold knock on the door. Deja cautiously creeped to the door and looked through the peep hole. It was Nick standing on the other side looking haggard and drained.
"Asia, get up!" She called out.
Asia's body was so weak from being distraught that she struggled to get up from the sofa. Deja opened the door and was rendered speechless at the sight of Nick standing there with his white sunglasses resting on top of his head, missing a lens. He had a pained look on his face as he gripped the left side of his torso. His forehead was scratched and his iconic chains and watch were missing. Nick moved past Deja and stepped into the foyer. "Where's Asia? Where she at?" He searched.
"Is Qua with you? Is he ok?" She asked anxiously.
"Yeah, he good. I need to see Asia!" He demanded. Nick's deep voice sounded like a dream to Asia as she slowly pulled herself up from the sofa. She hazily made her way over to him and melted into his arms. Nick winced from her embrace, but he tried his best to keep a straight face and mask the pain.
"Nick, I was so afraid. I thought you were..." she paused. The word she was about to say felt like poison on her tongue, so vile that she couldn't bare letting it escape.
"You didn't answer. Why didn't you answer?" She cried softly as he folded her deeper into his arms.
"I dropped my phone somewhere in tha club when I was runnin" he explained.
Asia stepped back and took a long look at her fiancé. He was holding his side and there was a deep wound on his head above his eyebrow.
"Nick! You're hurt, sit down." She said in a panic.
"Nah, I jus got grazed. I'm aight baby." He smiled at Asia to try and keep her calm.
"Let me take a look." Deja said. Nick lifted his red sweatshirt to reveal a superficial bullet scrape near his rib cage.
"Uh, that's a deep gash. Let me go and get the gauze and something to clean it with." She said.
"Thanks Dej." He answered.
As Deja left the living room to get her medical supplies, Asia turned to Nick and stared deep into his eyes, searching for answers.
"What happened back there?" She asked softly.
"Them clown ass cold crew niggas came to the club to start sum shit, and you know how reckless Qua mouth be, especially when he been drinkin" Nick said as he shook his head.
"Next thing I knew, they let the clip go on all us. They grabbed all my chains and shit up off me when I hit the ground, I barely got up out dar bitch!" He revealed.
"Are the guys ok? Why do they keep attacking you? I don't get it." She questioned.
"Yeah, they good. Luckily, them cold crew mutha fuckas can't shoot for shit. They on us over some beef wit Pee and sum funds he owe 'em." Nick said as he rubbed his eyebrows with his hand. He took a blunt from his pocket, lit it and took a deep drag. He exhaled the smoke and looked up to the ceiling.
"When we done wit dis Coachella show and get off QC, I think I'ma take a back seat to dis fame shit. I'ma just strictly stick to tha studio and stay out tha way completely." He imagined.
"Whatever you want to do, I'll support you." Asia encouraged while rubbing his hand.
Deja came back with cotton pads dipped in saline to clean Nick's wounds.
"This one bruised your ribs, it's going to be sore for a while." She warned. After disinfecting his two wounds, she wrapped the gauze firmly around his torso and bandaged his head.

Nick and Asia slept late into Saturday morning. Rocket jumped up and down and barked at the foot of their bed, acting as their wake up call.
"Aight, aight. We hear you Rock." Nick said sleepily as he rolled over to face the hungry puppy. He cringed with pain as he pulled himself up.
"Nick, stay and rest. I'll feed Rocket and take him out." Asia offered.
"Thank you, I love you baby." He said as he gently lowered himself back down into  the bed and relaxed his body. Asia slipped on a cozy sweater set and headed out into the crisp Fall air with Rocket for a walk. No less than 10 minutes into the walk she began to feel sharp cramping in her pelvis. She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and bent down to catch her breath. The pain was over quickly, and she continued the walk. When she got back to the penthouse, she peaked into the bedroom to find Nick still asleep, curled up inside the blankets like an innocent child. She used the quiet time to work on making a listing to put her house up for sale. The feeling was bittersweet, being that it was the first house she ever bought and she built so many beautiful memories in that space, but at the same time she was excited to take that next step with Nick.
When Nick finally awoke, he unwrapped his bandages and took a warm shower. He slowly made his way downstairs, wincing at every step from the pain in his side. Asia was in the kitchen at the stove making pancakes.
"Hey babe, you feeling better?" She asked with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm good." He lied.
Nick laid himself across the living room sofa to rest the aches in his torso. He turned the TV on just as the news of last night's club shooting was being covered.
"I'm tired as hell of our name bein' smeared in tha fuckin' media. Look at dis shit! They got our face up there on the headline and we ain't even did shit." He said angrily. Asia took a deep breath as the pelvic pain hit her again.
"You aight baby?" Nick asked in a serious tone.
"Yeah, I think I just need to sit down." She said.
"C'mon, yeah. Come and sit." He patted the space next to him on the couch. Asia walked over and placed a plate of pancakes, bacon, and eggs in front of her fiancé before sitting down next to him on the couch.
"Aye, we got some business in Cali this week, I want you to fly out wit me. Shit been kinda, you know, kinda tense. I feel like we needa change tha weather. Take it from Fall to Summer, switch it up real quick. What you think?" He asked.
"Yeah, I can move some things around. I'll come with you babe." she said excitedly.
He smacked and bobbed his head as he ate, "Aight, cool. I'ma set a little somethin' up foe you too. Lil spa day and shit. I need you to relax more, no stress. Ya digg?"
"I digg." She laughed.