Tangled Roots

Chapter Eleven: The Fallout

Jinae's POV

It's been two weeks since that night—two weeks since the nightmare at my apartment.

I haven't fully processed everything. I just... haven't. Every time I close my eyes, I still see the words spray-painted on my walls Leave East alone, the broken furniture, the shards of glass that I had to step over as I tried to make sense of the destruction.

Those words kept echoing in my head, bouncing off the corners of my mind like a haunting drumbeat. I wanted to erase them, but I couldn't. Not from the walls, and certainly not from my mind.

I had spent years fighting for this life. Princeton. The scholarship. My blog. My independence. I had clawed my way out of a life of poverty in Mississippi, and now, I was here in New Jersey, trying to build something real—something that mattered. But in the blink of an eye, that illusion of control had been shattered. It wasn't just my apartment that had been destroyed—it was my sense of security.

I wasn't naive. I knew Dave's life wasn't clean, and I knew I was getting closer to the dangerous edges of it. But to see it—*feel it*—in my own space? I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

I sat on the edge of the couch, hugging my knees to my chest, trying to breathe through the anger and the hurt. 

I stayed away from Dave for a few days after the incident. I needed time to think, time to breathe. But even though I was mad, even though I needed space, I missed him.

I couldn't stop thinking about him—about us.

And that's the problem, isn't it? I was so caught up in this life that I couldn't walk away from it, even when everything inside me was screaming to.

But now? Now, I was caught in the middle, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to lose myself in it.

Dave's POV

I'm a fuckin' mess.

I'm sittin' in my car outside Jinae's apartment, staring at the same door I've walked in and out of a thousand times. But tonight, it feels different. Tonight, I'm nervous. Tonight, I'm scared as hell that I might lose her.

The aftermath of what happened still lingers. I know she's mad at me. I know she's hurt. I get it. Hell, I feel like I'm fuckin' drowning in guilt. I should've seen it coming. The threats. The people from my past who still think they can control my future. I shouldn't have let that shit affect her. But I did. And now, I gotta fix it.

It's crazy, you know? For the first time in my life, I'm not sure how to fix it. I've been in and out of the streets for so long, but this—this woman—she's not a part of that life. And somehow, even though I want her to be my everything, I can't bring myself to let her go.

She's not like the others. She's different. She's real. And I know I can't afford to lose that.

But right now, I've gotta let her breathe. I've gotta give her space, even if it feels like my heart's being torn out.

I exhale, running my hand through my hair, and pick up my phone. I text her, asking if I can come up. She doesn't respond.

That's the thing with Jinae. She's not like the others. She doesn't need me to buy her things or shower her with attention. She needs me to be present. To be real. And I'm struggling with that. But damn it, I'm tryin'.

I text her again. **"Can we talk?"**

Seconds pass before the dot, dot, dot disappears.

She replies, finally. "I don't know, Dave."