I opened my eyes and noticed that I was laying on the floor. Kyrie wasn't laying next to me either. I get up and stretch before going upstairs. Kyrie's bedroom door was open and I heard her talking. "City High. I'm high off my city. I'm high off the vision of pity. City High. The buzz of the traffic. Shout out to all my hustlas scrapping. City High. I fell in love with the skyscraper buildings. The ones that can hold a million. City High. I'm high off my city. The place where we live off each other's pity. City High. Ugh! I hate this poem." She says. "I liked it." I say and walk completely into the room. "You're just saying that." "No, I'm not. I really liked it." "Well, I hate it. Compared to my first poems, this one sucks ass." "I think you're selling yourself short." "Probably but I don't care. I'm having a real bad day right now." "Because of me?" "No. Because of myself." She says and closes her notebook. "Aww, baby. Come on. Lay with me." I say and try to pull her against me but she was being stubborn. "Kyrie." I say sternly. "What?" "Don't give me sass, missy." I say and she smiles. "There she go." I say and pull her into me. "Don't get all closed up on me. And don't think that I'm gonna love you any less because of your past. You having the guts to tell me that makes me love you more. Sometimes you just gotta let someone in your world completely so they can catch you if you fall. I know that you say you've let me in but you're lying and that's ok. I just want you to know that no matter how we end up in the future, I will always love you. I will always be here for you. And you can always trust me. So tell me, ma. Why won't you let your guard down completely?" I said and then turned her around so she was facing me. "I try. But I won't let my guard down all the way because I don't know how. Like I said, I try. I really do but I've been lied to so much that I don't know what is real and what's not. I've always had to keep things under control and not let anything slip out. I break down easily but I try to keep this tough act up. Truth is, I'm as soft as a pillow. I'm not gonna let you run over me but I'm not a fighter. I'm not mentally or emotionally equipped for what I go through. I'm not a bad kid. All I do is cuss but look at who my parents are. I don't know. I just choose to keep imperative things to myself. But there are times when I get diarrhea by the mouth. So, yea. I don't know. I guess I choose to make things complicated." She says and and leans forward, putting her head on my chest. We sat there in silence while I ran my fingers through her hair. I leaned over her head and placed kisses on the back of her neck. Sinfully soft and I knew it. "You hungry?" She mumbles. "Yea." I reply and she practically breaks ass from under me and out the room. I guess I still overwhelm her. I follow her out the room after I grab a pair of sweatpants and sweater. I walk down to the kitchen to see Kyrie looking through the cabinets. "Let me put these on you, ma." I say as I wrap my arms around her waist. She pushes me back and hops on the counter. Kyrie sticks her legs out and I chuckle before putting the pants on her. Since she had that heat stroke, she's been in short shorts and a bra. Something that I've never really seen on her. But it's cold in the house. I don't want her sick. She jumps down once I get them over her thighs and I pull them all the way up. Kyrie just stood there like a little kid. "Are you gonna make it, ma? You look exhausted." "I'm fine." She responds and then leans forward. I felt her tremble against me. "Go lay down, ma. I'll cook." I say. "No. I'm fine. I can do it." "Kyrie, you need to rest. I'm not gonna sit here and watch you struggle. Go lay down!" "Cole, stop trying to care of me. I told you, I'm FINE!" She says and glares at me. I don't know if we just had an argument or not but I grab her neck and smash my lips against hers. She kisses back immediately. "You gonna lay down now?" I mumble against her lips and she nods before walking into the living room. I go to the cabinets and look for something to cook. My future wife is addicted macaroni and cheese and cornbread so may be she'll feel better if she eats that. "Cole!" Kyrie yells. "Yea, babe?" "I love you." "I love you too, ma." I respond and start cooking.
*An hour later*
I just finished cooking. As I took out the cornbread, I feel arms wrap around my middle. " I'm sorry." Kyrie says. "You good, ma. But aren't you supposed to be laying down?" I ask. "I wanted to apologize. Besides, your back is comfortable." She says. I laugh and say, "Go wait for me in the living room." She nods and unlatches herself from me. I make a plate and go sit in front of the couch where my novia was laying. She was just looking out into space. "How many nicknames do you have?" I ask trying to get her attention. "Let's see. Um, Stallion, Thea, Saucy, Footz, Novia, Bae, Baby, Niggah, Krissy, Boo, Babes, Jay, Kush, Rie, Lyric, October and Tootie. So that's 17." She says. "Some of those are the names I call you." " I know but many people have designated those names as my name. You'll probably hear the not common ones when I take you to Florida. But try being in a house with everyone calling you a different name." She says and we laugh. We sit there sharing food when she says, "My brother thinks that we don't argue enough." "Really?" "Yea. He says that we are too happy." "Hahaha. Does he want us to be ready to kill each other all the time?" I say and she laughs. "I don't know but that's what he said. My parents say that it's still early in our relationship and it might be some time after our one year anniversary before we truly argue. Which reminds me. You know how we've been having a monthly anniversary?" Kyrie asks as I place a forkful of macaroni and cheese in her mouth. I nod my head. "Is it as stressful to you as it is to me?" "Kinda. When I'm out buying your present, I be thinking hard as hell about what you would want." I say. "Exactly. I don't want our anniversaries to be based on material things. So, I have two suggestions. One, we have yearly anniversaries and two, we don't buy things unless we really want to and like we just spend time with each other." "I like it." I say and then lean up to kiss her. She smiles against my lips. "Go get dressed." I say and she nods. She gets up and runs upstairs. I wash the dishes before going up to her room. I can hear the shower running and I let out a long groan. Kyrie is a jerk. She knows I wanna shower with her and she always prevents that from happening. I go to the bathroom downstairs and use that shower.
*15 minutes later*
I was in my boxers and a wife-beater looking at random pics. "Can I get a plate or nah?" I say, remembering this video I saw. "Is you tryna date or nah?" I hear and look towards the door. I'm officially sexually frustrated. Kyrie comes in the room with a towel on. Knowing how I feel about her. Jerk! "This could be us but you don't know how to dress." She says as she holds up her phone with this pic of a couple matching. "Damn, ma. You feel like that?" I ask and she laughs.
*30 minutes later*
"Come on, Novia!" I yell. I was waiting for Kyrie to come down. I was dressed in some Levi 's, a white tee, my black Timbs and a black varsity jacket. "Coming!" She replies and I hear her footsteps. When she comes off the last stair, I'm ready to hand out a late night special. She's dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, tan Timbs and a tan sweater that says 'LOVE' and her hair is pushed back by a headband and it's super curly. Kyrie really knows how to push my buttons. I can barely resist sometimes. "I'm ready." She says and grabs my arm. We walk out the house and to her car. Instead of going to the driver's side, she hands me the keys. "Crash my car if you want to." She says before kissing me. I shake my head and laugh a little before getting in the driver's seat. "Where are we going?" She asks once we pull off. I think about it for a minute. "I don't know."
