Don't Leave Me

chapter 4

*dinah pov*

I could tell anise was pissed for what I did but in all honesty I didn't care. I wasn't hers . I didn't belong to anyone. I'm just my own person that does whatever she pleases.

"what's the guys number?" I asked her, when I pulled apart from the hug.

"it's in my phone." she whispered, as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket.

she hands it to me and upon seeing the lock screen, it's a picture of us when we were together. it was a chilly day and we decided to go to the beach. normani insisted that we take a picture. I took her phone from her hands and decided to take the photo . I wasn't smiling at first but as soon as I felt her lips touch my cheek, a smile appeared and I took the photo. I could feel tears stroll down my face as I looked down at her.

"you kept this?"

"it's always been my lockscreen and home screen. I loved you in the past and I still love you now."

I kissed her head as I pulled her close. I needed to stop crying because we have a kid to find. I pull away from her and searched through her phone. when I came across an unknown number, I felt sick to my stomach. it had to be him. everyone else seemed to have names to their number but this one. my thumb hovering over the number shakily. I felt lips touch my cheek and I instantly smiled. I looked over to my right to find normani smiling at me with red puffy eyes.

"you can do it." she whispered.

I looked at my girls and they nodded their heads at me. I didn't seem to care that anise was gone. she probably was furious.

I pressed the phone to my ear and listened to it ring twice before he answered .

"mani?" his voice said, cheerfully.

"no, where is her son?" I asked, putting it on speaker.

"no, no, our son. he's safe with me."

"MOMMY, HELP!" a voice screamed, who i'm assuming is jafre.

"aj, please don't hurt him!" normani begged, tears coming down her face.

"I wouldn't hurt our precious son."

"I'll do anything, just please give him back."

"I want you to go to dinner with me."

"when?"

"I'll tell you when you come to my house. no tricks or else , he's going to be punished."

"what do you mean by tricks?"

"Kehlani better stay in the car. I'm not about to have her beat the crap out of me."

"you have a restraining order and you're ignoring it. so I can just call the police on you for kidnapping my son."

"OUR son !"

"don't hurt him! I'll come but just please aj. if you love him , you wouldn't do anything."

"fine . come within 30 minutes or else, you won't have him."

"I'm leaving now. don't touch him."

he ends the call and normani motions Kehlani to come over. I watched as the girls filed around with Camila holding onto a sleepy Justine.

"Dinah, I need you and the girls to go home. I promise that I'll call zendaya and tell her that I have jafre . I love you okay ? I never stopped and i still have explaining to do."

she stands on her tippy toes and gives me a small kiss on my cheek before running off with Kehlani. I feel someone nudge me but I don't care because I'm smiling like an idiot.

"she loves me." I said to myself, not caring who hears.

"she does." they tell me smiling.

butterflies begin to erupt in my stomach and my cheeks getting flushed with red. she also gave me these kinds of effects when she says something. I didn't want to fall for her but I'm glad I did. I will finally get the truth when she returns and I hope that she doesn't break my heart .

"Dinah, the kid's three right?"

"yeah ?" I asked, unsure of what's coming.

"four years ago, it was 2021. we finished college in 2019. why would she be living in a dorm with Kehlani?"

"maybe because Kehlani was probably still in school."

"doing what? who would stay in a dorm for more than four years?"

"Laur, don't judge her. if you have questions go ask her. I'm sure she has a reason for that."

"okay." she said, putting her hands up.

I roll my eyes before we walked out of the mall. upon arriving at the car, I buckled the sleeping Justine in her booster seat carefully, trying not to wake her up . when I get in the driver's seat, Camila enters the car and sits in the passenger seat.

"how could she do that?!" she furiously whispered.

"I don't know, mila. I don't know what runs through that brain of hers."

"it's just.. I still love her.. I can't hate her even though I want to so bad.."

"and that's okay. it's your life and you can do whatever you want. just know that I'll be here supporting your decisions bad or good. so if you still love her, talk it out with her. I'm pretty sure she wants to apologize for that." I said, as we pulled out of the parking lot.

I headed home but decided to stop by an ice cream place since Justine loves ice cream and in a few days, I won't be able to give her ice cream and us going out. we'll have the weekends but it won't be enough . like I won't have her on the weekends . Camila just sat in the living room while I waited for normani to call zendaya then zendaya call me . I put Justine to bed before coming to the living room again to check on Camila.

"7 years.. it's been that long.. she told me she wasn't going to hurt me.."

I let out a sigh and sat down next to Camila, putting an arm around her . she leans against my side and lays her head on my shoulder. I could feel wet, hot tears fall onto my shirt. it killed me when she began to cry or ally . it was heartbreaking watching them be so vulnerable . love destroys your heart but it can also mend it. love isn't something that comes easily . you have to work for it . it breaks you physically and mentally.

I had to learn the hard way when I loved normani. it was like a roller coaster. she had broken me ever since I met her. I loved a girl that probably never would've loved me back. boy was I wrong. she loved me. after years of me in love with a girl that never noticed me, to finally love me back. but that all went in a downward spiral . she left me. on the day we graduated. she explained nothing to me. she just broke up with me and left completely. never saw her until now. 10 years have passed by and I'm only seeing her now. where did she go for those past years? my main questions are ..

why did she leave in the first place? does she really love me like she said she does or is it just a scheme? a scheme to make me fall in love with her all over again just to be heartbroken.

history is bound to repeat.