𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 (𝙳𝙺 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚡 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒)

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 13

~

𝙲𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚄𝙿𝚂 & 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙾𝙻𝚄𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽

Death was peaceful...easy...I thought nothing of floatin' away into the darkness.

That was until a brilliant light flared ahead. I suddenly felt my eyes slowly begin to open.

I squinted at the light above me before registering that I was in a bed, an oxygen tube resting under my nose. I reached for it in confusion before a hand stopped me, my surroundings coming into focus.

"D, baby," I heard Ma whimper. "You're okay!"

"It's alright, son," Pop followed. "Your mom and I are right here..."

After a few more moments of lookin' around, I realized I was at the hospital. I was bed-ridden, bandaged up, and in a leg cast. I was in bad shape, all around.

Ma hovered over me, tears in her eyes. There were "get well" cards on the nearby dresser, along with a photo montage of me and the squad.

"Mani..." I croaked, my throat dry, "...where's-"

"She's sleep, baby," Ma said, nodding across the room to a chair where Mani was snuggled up and fast asleep – at least, appearing to be.

"She never leaves," Pop said, smilin' from her to me. "And her family's down in the cafeteria."

"Mmmm..." I groaned, attempting to sit up, "...what happened?"

"Your clumsy ass fell down two flights of stairs," Ma chuckled, wipin' away the last of her tears.

"Then through a window," Pop sighed, bringin' Ma closer to him to console her.

I looked at them before starin' off, drawin' a blank.

"You took Normani to Phoenix," Ma explained, trynna jog my memory. "You wanted to show her where you grew up. The night ya'll got there, you booked a room at the hotel. On your way to grab more of your bags, you tripped down the stairs."

In that moment, I realized that this was a cover story. Wanting to play along, I nodded before chuckling.

"Sounds like me," I smiled.

"You'd think a highly sought after football star would have better hand-eye-coordination," Pop teased.

We all shared a laugh before my eyes naturally shifted to Mani. I looked at her longingly, Pop noticing.

"You're in love with that girl," he observed.

I couldn't help the grin that appeared on my lips at the comment, my parents smiling in response.

"Yeah..." I said, "...I am...I really am..."

"She's in love with you, too," Ma said.

I looked over at her.

"She told you?"

"She didn't have to. There's a certain way a woman talks about the person she loves when she's in deep. And baby, she's over the moon, in love with you."

I felt my cheeks flush at the discovery. Yeah...Mani and I were in this for the long haul.

After a little while of talking, I convinced my parents to finally go eat. Apparently, they hadn't since gettin' here. Plus, I wanted them to meet the rest of Mani's family.

I watched them leave the room before turning to find Mani standing next to me, her mocha eyes deep with concern. They started wellin' up instantly before I slowly brought her in bed with me, kissing her slowly...lovingly...