Only You

i'm going to show you

Zoe's mind continued to race as she stood at the stove cooking her famous breakfast entree. Dean stood beside her, placing bread in the toaster.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to town? Why didn't your mom tell me? I just saw her in church on Sunday," she finally said.

"She doesn't know I'm here, I came to see you," he stated simply, looking to see what her reaction to that would be.

She sucked her teeth, deciding to ignore that. "You're lucky I didn't have a man over here," she muttered with false nonchalance.

Dean smirked a little. " A what?" he questioned, leaning forward as if he hadn't heard her.

Pissed off by the laugh in his voice, she looked at him and repeated, louder, "You're lucky I didn't have a man over here when you showed up."

He didn't take her seriously only because he knew her, and although she could have a steady supply of men if she wanted to, she barely gave any man the time of day. And there was also the small fact that he was pretty sure she was still a virgin and had never let any man other than him stay the night.

But he decided to humor her with a response rather than risk her going off.

"Let's be real, Zo, are you seeing anybody right now?"

How tempted she was to say it was none of his business, but at the same time she knew that for some unforeseen reason to today, he'd been making it his business.

She'd been passive aggressive about this topic for a long time during their friendship. The urge to express all the resentment she'd ever felt towards him for often making her feel so special, like something was actually happening between them and then never broaching the topic, was strong.

"I mean I've gone on a couple dates with Trey from the church, he's new so you don't know him. Your mom actually introduced us though," she finally answered, avoiding his eyes.

Dean swore under his breath. He was really going to have a talk with his mom later.

He waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't, he prompted, "and do you have feelings for the nigga or not?"

She bristled."It's none of your business. How many girls have you been with since I last saw you?"

His eyes narrowed but he didn't answer, so she took that as her chance to unleash. 

"Oh too many to count, right? That's fine because you have needs, right?" She questioned sarcastically.

Dean sighed. This is what he was afraid of. She was being defensive in the way that only someone who's trying to protect them self can be. He hadn't intended to discuss this particular topic so soon.

"Zo," he got her attention and slowly advanced towards her.

"I'm sorry I sound bitter but-"

"I came here, to you, Zo, because I'm ready to really do this," he stated soberly, taking her hands in his.

Zoe started at him, trying to mask her shock as she searched his eyes for insincerity.

"Define this," Zoe replied, refusing to let up.

"...A serious relationship. I love being your friend, but you and I both know we've been more than friends for a while now."

"Have we really?" she was avoiding his eyes now, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Yes, and you know that," he said with a little exasperation. He lifted her chin so that she had to look at him again.

"On and off," she replied emphatically. It was the truth. They barely saw each other.

He sighed, his eyes swimming with an emotion she couldn't really understand.

"Zo..."

She cut him off. "Well for at least the rest of today, we're just friends. We're just friends until you show that you're actually committed to a serious relationship."

Dean gritted his teeth and reluctantly agreed. "That's fair."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Dean dramatically "choked down" the spinach and egg scramble she made, Zoe sat him down on the couch so that she could actually put some clothes on.

As she perused her closet for an outfit, she tried to keep her mind blank so as not to start building silly expectations. Dean had never intentionally hurt her throughout the ten years of their friendship.

He didn't have time for more than casual flings, and he'd made that clear more than once through his actions. And then he shows up here acting as if he's suddenly realized he needs her more than he needs a constant supply of sex and models on his arm?

It didn't make sense for her to open her heart to him while he was still in the prime of his career.

So why hadn't she been as serious about Trey as she she should have been?

Unfortunately, no one had ever understood her like Dean did. There was also the minor detail that she was unquestionably in love with him.

She sighed as she brushed her wild hair up into a high puff. It was hopeless game, really. She knew she would give him a chance no matter what.

Dean looked up at her when she reentered the living room.

"Oh my gosh, my movie is on !!!" Zoe exclaimed, bouncing over to sit beside him on the couch. Dean reluctantly smiled at her enthusiasm. While flipping through channels he'd accidentally stopped on BET and Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman was playing.

"I'll never understand why you like this movie so much."

She took her eyes off the screen momentarily to scoff at him. "It's a modern day fairy tale."

"All I have to say is there's something very questionable about a nigga with lace front cornrows," he said.

An affronted expression passed over her face but her gaze didn't leave the television screen.

She didn't truly acknowledge his crack until the commercial break began.

"Shemar is more of a man than you'll ever be," she replied sassily.

"What was that?" He leaned forward as if he hadn't heard her, amused.

She scooted away from him "You heard me-" she shrieked, as he reached out and pulled her into his side.

"De-" she tried pulling away but he began tickling her sides.

She broke out in a fit of giggles, fidgeting all over the place.

"Stop! Stop please," she panted, but he didn't relent for the next few minutes.

He finally stopped and she frantically scooted away from him. "I wouldn't say you guys are equal but you're okay too." Dean sucked his teeth in mock annoyance.

Zoe decided not to talk about how warm and fuzzy Shemar made her feel for the rest of the movie, but she did shed a little tear during the proposal scene at the end.

Dean just watched her because that had always been one of his favorite things to do. I was literally a fuck nigga for 10 years, he thought, cringing mentally.

He'd always known Zoe was not one of those girls you messed around with. Now he just had to figure out how to show her that he was truly serious.

a/n: excuse my language???