Justification | Deetranada AU

intermediary: an innamission (3)

(Brief note: intermediary: an innamission is a four-part intermissionary chapter. It will be given in the order best applied to the present timeline and the times given are an indication of how long it's been since the break-up.)   

Four Days Post

Latto, Peach, Roscoe, Jae, Key and Mani sit around the living room of Latto's home, Jermaine the lone person standing. It's quiet, no one willing to speak first. Roscoe coughs loudly, earning a glare from Jae.

'Look,' Jermaine begins. 'I don't wanna waste y'all time so I'll just say it.' He takes a moment to look at each of them, their expressions varied, some more readable than others. 'I know y'all probably don't understand or have questions for her and all that.'

He pauses, attempting to find the right words before giving up, not finding them. 'My sister don't need that shit right now.' A few of them nod as he continues. 'Y'all really gotta be there for her. Last time, she ain't have nobody but us and...'

Peach leans over as he speaks, whispering to Roscoe, 'Last time?' Key nudges her, making a face to stop her from talking. She frowns, crossing her arms and pouting. '...pick days, split days, whatever. She just needs y'all support for the next few weeks.'

'To do what though,' Latto interrupts. 'She obviously don't want us around.' 'She does,' Jermaine corrects. 'She just...I don't know, when she gets like this she pushes people away.' 'Not Mani,' Roscoe jokes causing Peach to laugh. 

'Shut the fuck up, nigga,' Mani replies, his response distant but threatening. 'She ain't got no reason to talk to yo punk ass anyway,' Mani adds, leaning back on the couch. 'Mani, don't start,' Jae responds, giving Roscoe no chance to defend himself. Mani chuckles, turning his attention back to Jermaine as Jae and Roscoe bicker amongst themselves. 

'Aye, can y'all save that dumb shit for later?' Key says loudly. They shut up, frowning and scooting away from each other. 'Damn. Go 'head Jay.' Jermaine nods his thanks, taking a deep breath before continuing.

'Make her feel normal, don't ask her questions, don't try to figure shit out. Just be her friend,' he explains. 'So, we supposed to act like none of this happened?' Peach questions in disbelief. 'Essentially,' Jermaine replies. Peach sucks her teeth, grabbing her phone and occupying herself. Key watches her with a hard stare.

'What if she ask us?' Jae asks quietly. 'Use discretion,' Jermaine answers to a few confused faces. 'You decide if you want to answer or not but don't be hard on her if she asks.' Latto frowns, her leg shaking as she looks the other way. 

'Look,' Jermaine begins, his words for everyone but his eyes set on Latto. 'I know she probably snapped on y'all. She did the same thing to me, you can't take it personally.' Lato brushes a tear from her face, turning back to speak. 'Well, I do.'

'I been there the whole damn time and she just say some bullshit like that, to me? Nah.' She uncrosses her legs, sitting forward and resting her elbows on her legs, her leg continuing to shake. 'What she say,' Peach asks, suddenly interested again.

'She was like maybe the problem was me puttin' her and Nov together,' she spits out, chuckling angrily. 'That won't you though,' Jae says quietly. 'It was all of us.' 'Nuh uh, not me,' Roscoe interjects. Jae rolls her eyes at his comment, mumbling under her breath.

'Look, I know that probably hurt you Alyssa but don't take it that way,' Jermaine attempts. 'I promise you, she's not mad at you. She's just hurting.' 'Well, now I am too.' Jermaine sighs, taking off his hat to rub his head.