Nouveau

Chapter 21: The Collaspe

Tremaine

5:00 AM

"Laive?..." Tremaine called out into the empty foyer. "Laive...where you at baby?"

Usually, she would have answered the first time. This time, Laive didn't respond at all.

Even though he wasn't happy with her at the moment, Tremaine wasn't exactly pleased with himself either. The look on Laive's face when he told her to go home hurt him.

She making me soft.

"L...I know you hear me," He yelled.

The panic he felt when she didn't answer, made his jog up the stairs feel like the longest two minutes of his life. Laive was a runner. Whenever she couldn't handle something, she would just take off or check out mentally. At home, Laive didn't have the means to pick up everything and just leave. She would just mentally check out of the situation and not respond. But when he moved her to LA, Laive was making a little of her own money from the mixtape. It wasn't much considering Tremaine's fortune or even enough for her to live on her own, but it was enough for her to leave LA if she wanted to.

Tremaine pushed her door open, and saw Laive curled up in the middle of the bed.

"L..." the breath he was holding in, finally released.

She still didn't answer. The hallway lights softly illuminated Laive's doorway as he noticed dried tears on her face. Her jet black hair was straightened with the majority of it flowing to her waist, and there were a few wisps that hung across her lips.

Laive was sleeping.

Tremaine quietly removed his shoes, and pulled the covers back, "Baby girl?..."

Positioning himself at the center of the headboard,  he cradled her body into his. He kissed her gently as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Why you been crying...?" Tremaine kissed her forehead.

Laive still wouldn't wake up. He swept her hair behind her ear, and cuffed his hand underneath her neck. Pulling her towards his mouth, he kissed her lips until she woke up. L panicked for the first few seconds.

"Relax...it's just me baby" Tremaine whispered in her ear.

As she sluggishly opened her eyes, L held her head down.

"Laiv-"

"I should have been on time. I'm sorry...No excuses."

"You've been crying Laive."

"It's cool. It's not a big deal...stuff happens. But I'm really sorry about being so late. I promise it won't happen again."

"Ok Laive...but it's not cool that you've been crying. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." Laive meddled with her fingers.

"You been lying all day...what's up?"

"I have no-"

"Stop lying to me Laive." Tremaine could feel his temper rising.

"I don't want to try this dating thing with you"

Tremaine sat up and closed his eyes. His maniacal laugh scared the shit out of L.

"I know you don't mean that shit. So I'm gone ask you one more time"  He kissed her so hard, he took the air from her chest. "Baby...what's wrong with you?"

She hugged him, "Can I please not talk about it?"

When she tried to kiss his cheek, Tremaine felt her damp face rub against his.