"What?"
He sighed and removed his arms from around me. "Are you using me?" He repeated.
I scoffed heavily and backed away from him. "Is this your sick version of some joke? I don't find it funny." I said on the verge of tears.
"Am I not just some 'white knight' for you? Do you think I don't know the club lingo, Toni?" He said getting loud. "Admit it, you used me to get out the club life for your stupid little singing dream. You knew about my money, my business, and my connections. Admit it." He yelled.
I knelt down on my knees and cried. I looked up to him and laid my hands open on my knees.
Something in me changed. I felt like my mother. Whenever my father got upset with her, she submitted herself to him. She let her power go.
"I'm sorry." I cried.
"What are you saying? What are you doing?" He asked confused. I had no answer. I didn't even know.
"Forgive me." I pleaded.
"What the f- Toni, are you..."
I kept my eyes on him regardless of the endless tears flowing from them.
He came up to me and picked me up. He carried me bridal style to the bed. He laid me down and sat next to me as I cried.
"I'm so sorry. I don't want you to be upset with me. I love you, please. Don't leave me."
Bryan brushed my hair from my face and lifted my chin up. "Baby, I wasn- I didn't mean to do this to you. I just overheard your conversation and made an assumption. I-I apologize." He genuinely said.
I felt stupid. I let my parents relationship effect mine with Bryan. I swore I wouldn't but I literally just became my mother.
I wiped my face and sat up. "I'm gonna go home. I can't do this, I'm sorry." I said. I walked through the room door and walked down the stairs.
"Toni, we across the country. What do you mean you're going home?" Bryan asked from the top of the stairs.
"I'll catch a flight. I love you." I said before leaving through the front door.
A week later...
"I just want my face back. Is that too much to ask?" I laughed as Jet and Monroe were attacking me in kisses. God, I love these girls.
They both sat up and let me free. "We just know you've been going through something so we wanted to give extra love and no attitude." Monroe said.
Jet joined in, of course, "Do you want to talk about it? We're your personal therapists." They both smiled innocently and waited for me to spill the beans.
I hate that I walked out on Bryan that night. I hate that I fucking submitted to him like a damn slave. I hate that I haven't spoken to him since. I hate that I've been keeping this all bottled in.
"I let Mom and Dad get in my head and might've messed things up with Bryan." I confessed.
They stared at me like I just punched them in the gut. "You messed things up with Bryan? Like the guy you've been with for nine months and some change? Mom, how?" Jet asked.
"And how does Mom and Dad play into this?" Monroe added.
I sighed as I palmed my face.
"Before Jet was born, and Monroe, you could hardly remember, Dad would get really upset. And loud. He would slap Mom around and she would get weak. It was sad but she was weak and her way to please him would be submitting to him. She'd sit on her legs, open her hands to him, and beg for forgiveness. It was sad and it'd happen a lot in front of me. Last week while you guys were away, Bryan took me over to his other house. Your fabulous G-Ma called and said some stuff and I defended myself. Bryan must've confused things and got angry-"
"Did he hit you?" Jet asked. I looked up and noticed they were both in tears. "No, baby. He would never." I assured them. "H-He loves me. I know that." I continued.
I wrapped my arms them as they each cried on my shoulders. They don't know much about our parents relationship, so this was a news breaker.
"He got angry and he got loud, then I let that and Dad effect me. I submitted to him like Mom did with Dad. Then I left." I finished.
"Sorry that happen to you." Jet said picking her head up and wiping her nose. "I know Dad effects a lot of your decisions and it must suck."
Monroe cried a bit longer which I wasn't surprised by. She always felt a connection with our mother, even after she passed. "It's okay, baby." I said as I held her.
"Mom."
"Yes, baby? What is it?"
"Can you work things out with Bryan? He makes you happy and we know that. You literally have been glowing since you got with him. Plus, he knows that you're not using him, he just made a mistake."
Jet is always so optimistic and sees the best in people. Behind the sass, she's such a gem.
"You really think I should? I think I fucked up more than he did this time." I chuckled a little.
"You should." Monroe added. She lifted her head and wiped her face. "You need to. You love him, he loves you, and that ring on your finger says more than we can."
I looked down at the promise ring he gave. "Yeah..."
The end.
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Just kidding 😭 But hey guys!