him.

9. i'm ready, we're ready

"Man, this is so good!" I say as I stuff another piece of sushi into my mouth. We went to get seafood, which I have been craving for the longest time. I haven't had good seafood in so long, reason for that is because it's expensive. That's why I'm so surprised he took me out to eat here. I put another piece in my mouth, feeling Zion's eyes looking at me while doing so.

"Jeez, calm down. You're acting like you haven't had food in like 4 years." He mocks.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" I ask, not responding to what he said at all.

"I'm good. I'll just eat the leftovers. I mean, if there's gonna be any." He says and I roll my eyes at him.

Just as I'm about to say something, I notice a familiar face walking into the restaurant.

Dad...

I look at my phone to check the time, it's 6:17 P.M. Shouldn't he be on his way home? What is he doing here? Then, someone else appear from behind him. It's a woman, the woman I saw him with at the mall, and they're holding hands. I keep my eyes on them with a confused look on my face. Zion seems to have noticed the look on my face and turns around to look in the same direction. The expression on his face turns stone cold.

Zion's POV

"Jeez, calm down. You're acting like you haven't had food in like 4 years." I say.

"Aren't you gonna eat?"

"I'm good. I'll just eat the leftovers. I mean, if there's gonna be any." I answer and she rolls her eyes at my words. I love when she does that.

She then shifts her focus to something behind me. Judging from the confused look on her face, something is happening. I turn around to see what she's looking at and at that exact moment, I swear, my heart sank.

Mom?

She said she was going out of town for work. What is going on? Who is that man? I can't seem to take my eyes off of them. I need to know what's going on, who that man is and how he's related to my mom and apparently KJ. I want to stand up and walk up to them, but realization hits me and I look back at KJ. Tears welling up in her eyes. We have to go... Now.

"KJ, let's go." I quietly say as the tears are now running down her face.

"Not now. We have to walk past them and they'll see us."

We wait until they sit down at a table, then pay for our food and immediately leave the restaurant. We walk towards my car and get in, it's dead silent. We both sit in our seats, staring into the distance. There's so much going through my mind and I just don't know where to start.

"Do you-" She says.

"What ju-" I say. "You first."

"Do you know that woman?" She asks.

KJ's POV

"Do you know that woman?" I ask, still looking in front of me, avoiding eye contact. I'm sure he knows her, I mean, his facial expression changed immediately when he saw her. He has to know her.

He sighs. "That's my mom." He admits. "Do you know that man?"

"That's..." I start. I can't get the words out of my mouth. I want to scream and cry. I feel like I'm about to pass out. I can't believe this is happening. "That's my dad. Well, my stepdad, not my biological dad."

"I'm so sorry, KJ." His voice is shaking.

"It's not your fault. I can't believe he would do that. My mom has always given him everything, she is so loving. And this is how he pays her back? By cheating on her with her own friend?! This also explains why he's never home!" I rant. And Zion's not saying a word.

He starts the engine of his car and we leave the parking lot. "Do you wanna go home?"

"No. I can't see my mom now. I just can't. I feel so bad for her. Let's just go back to your place, I'll text my mom and say I'm at G's house."

..

"Can I take a shower?" I ask as we enter Zion's living room for the second time today. "I really need one."

"Yeah, sure! I'll get you a towel." He answers. I walk towards his bathroom, take off my clothes, put my braids up in a bun and step right into the shower cabin. I close my eyes as the warm water hits my back. Suddenly, the tears I tried to fight back so hard are streaming down my face and I start sobbing.

"KJ, are you okay? I got your towel..." Zion says, softly knocking on the bathroom door. I don't reply, the words are just not coming out. I continue to cry as I hear the sound of Zion opening the door. My eyes remain shut but I hear water... I think he's running a bath. Why would he do that? After a while, he slowly turns off the water of the shower and I open my eyes to find him standing right in front of me, outside of the shower cabin. He motions for me to step out of the shower cabin.

"Get in." He softly says, pointing at the beautiful marble bathtub across the shower cabin.

I step out of the shower, not even caring about him seeing me fully naked, as step into the bathtub filled with pink water. He must have used a bath bomb. The water is hot but not too hot, it's just right. Just right for me to be able to relax and take my mind off of what I had just witnessed about an hour ago. I suddenly feel the water moving, snapping me out of my deep thoughts. Zion got in, with me. He sits across from me and looks me in the eyes. I can tell this whole situation affected him, maybe even just as much as it affected me, but he tries to hide it.

"Turn around." He says and do as I was told. I turn around in the bathtub, my back is now facing him and I can feel his hands landing onto my shoulders. He slowly starts to massage them.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to do but to apologize." He starts. After a short moment of silence, he continues. "KJ, I really like you. I'm experiencing feelings I have never experienced before when I'm with you. This is all so new to me and I don't know how to respond to these feelings. And this shit is just making everything so much harder. I'm just as shocked as you are but I can't imagine how you must feel."

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you. I can't get mad at you. We are not at fault, we are not to blame for our parents' mistakes... My stepdad never felt like an actual father to me. Sure, I do refer to him as my dad, but that's just because he's the only father figure I have ever had in my life. And because my mom wanted me to call him 'dad'. We've never had an actual bond and I doubt that we ever will, not after this." I say.

I turn around again and face Zion. He looks so beautiful, almost vulnerable. I stare into his eyes and fold my legs before softly kissing his lips. This kiss feels different than the other ones we've shared. This kiss is filled with love and affection, whereas the other ones were pure lust.

"Oh, and I like you too. A lot." I say, smiling after breaking the kiss.

This is going to be a very, very long ride. And I'm all up for it.